Forevermore
by dragons an' fire
Summary: AU based in alot of what ifs. What if the Dursleys were rougher on Harry than he let on. What if the Malfoys had an older son. What if Dumbledore didn't know everything he thinks he knows. manipulative AD slash summery/warnings inside
1. Prolouge

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else. **

(Seriously, I don't own anything so don't sue.)

Summery: Compliant through book 5, AU as of book 6. Lucias Malfoy has an older son (I won't give away what happens to him.) Harry Potter is abused by Dursleys. Dudley has a change of heart after his run in with the dementors and helps Harry run away. Harry meets up with the unknown Malfoy by a series of coincidences. Eventual slashy goodness. All of which leads to a very different 6th year. Add in manipulative headmaster take away horicruxes...

**WARNINGS: slash (boy/boy pairings), child abuse, language, violence, teenage hormones, underage sex? in later chapters, **also: decent!Malfoys, possible alive!sirius, and backstabbing!Ron and/or Hermione

I think that's it! Enjoy!

**Prologue**

Lucias Malfoy watched horrified as the "light" witch lifted his sleeping four year old from the bed. He struggled uselessly with the Aurors holding him.

"Stop! I'm innocent! Don't touch my son!"

The child stirred, but a sleep charm kept him from waking. The witch ignored him lifting her wand and caressing the boy's cheek.

"We should go. Our orders were to pick _him_ up. Nothin' about messin' with no kid." One of the Aurors threw in uneasily.

"Just a little present." She murmured in a sticky sweet voice. Before anyone could respond the witch flipped her wand in a figure 8 over the boy's heart, chanting "_May you be tied to the light, heart and soul forevermore." _A blue glow faded into the child's skin and the witch watched as Lucias sagged between the Aurors, a smug expression on her face and her eyes glimmering fanaticly.

"_**Briar! **_– What did you do Bitch! He's a baby! What did you do?!?" The Malfoy patriarch was furious and terrified.

"Becka-"

"You killed my mother! I know it was you, you bastard! I was only insuring your brat didn't turn out the same!"

"Becka stop! What – never mind it doesn't matter. You can turn yourself in when we get to Headquarters. Damn you girl! You should have taken yourself off this assignment!" one of the Aurors not holding the distraught blond shouted moving forward and snatching the boy from the crazed witch and laying him in his crib.

"Briar!" the shout or plea was ignored as Lucias was hauled out of the room and towards the floo.

XXXxxx

The head representative of the Wizengamot looked down at the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in all of Europe.

"Of course we shalln't need Veritaserum. This is a clear case of Imperius. Vote? Yes well, case dismissed." The old wizard waved off the crowd's protests. "Lord Malfoy? My condolences to you and your wife. I hope you found the young Auror's punishment appropriate?"

"He is not dead yet. You will be hearing from me soon." The 27 year old pureblood stormed out of the courtroom and slammed the door leaving behind a very pale Wizengamot.

"Next case" a trembling voice began "Lestrange…"

XXXXxxx

"Where is he?"

"Really, Lucias that is no way to greet your wife after a long absence! Even if we are alone proper decorum -"

"Where is my son Narcissa?"

"Draco is sleeping dear. What is the rush? Is something wrong?"

"Not Draco, Briar! Honestly! The last I saw that cunt-"

"Language Lucias!

"Where. Is. _BRIAR!!"_ His voice was now deadly.

"I got rid of him. The healers couldn't fix him; I even had an Unspeakable here! Can you imagine the talk-"

"Our son is dead?" Lucias asked in a desperate whisper, regretting his choice of words not two hours ago.

"I should hope so. We left the boy in a dangerous enough place. Can you imagine? A light wizard as our heir?"

"You WHAT?" he shouted snapping from his thoughts.

"Don't worry. I handled the situation Darling. I even took a blood vow so I couldn't reveal my actions even under Veritaserum."

"Where is he?"

"You can't want him _back?_ Cursed to be a light wizard, with unknown side effects. He's a wildcard! Don't worry, Bella was captured and she agreed to go down for kidnapping as well. She was always loyal to our Lord. She understands what it could cost our side if the ministry were to confiscate-"

"Shut Up! You tell me you just abandon our son and are worried about the Dark Lord's **Funding**?!?"

"Perhaps you need a bit of a rest Lucias. _Stupefy!"_ she smirked, he never saw it coming.

A house elf popped in suddenly carrying a crying baby. "Dobby is sorry Mistress!"

"Hush Draconis. You! See to it that my husband is comfortable, and that he doesn't wake for another two days! Then go punish yourself for incompetence; you vile creature! There, there, Draco. Mummy's here."


	2. Enter Harry

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter: the actors, books, movies, action figures…got it?**

**Warning: **this chapter contains _child abuse_ nothing too graphic I think (let me know if you feel otherwise). See intro for all story warnings.

**Chapter 1: In which I introduce Harry and his Relatives **

_First day of summer break after Fifth Year. _

It was pouring rain by the time the Dursleys brought him 'home' from the station. They raced inside with only a sharp word to Harry about not leaving the trunk open. The teen glared after them struggling with his trunk and the unwieldy birdcage.

"Sorry Girl. I'll get you dry soon." Harry murmured in a low voice, heaving the trunk up the porch steps.

He fumbled between his belongings and the doorknob for a few minutes before he realized the door was locked. He bit his lip uncertainly and knocked. After a longer than necessary wait the door opened – chain lock still in place.

"What is it _Boy?"_ Vernon Dursley leered, his beady eyes glimmering in sadistic pleasure.

"I – can I come in, sir?" his voice faltered and Harry bit his lip having flashbacks of his childhood.

"No." Vernon answered maliciously. "I don't need worthless little freaks tracking water and mud through my house. You can stay in the shed and be grateful."

Harry stared at the front door, pale. He knew his uncle was probably watching from the other side. Shaking himself he gathered his things and made his way to the shed. His uncle hadn't acted like this since before he started Hogwarts. _Or at least not this openly. _He admitted to himself. _I wonder what I did._ He shivered as a breeze leaked inside and realized he was soaked through. He debated changing clothes, but he didn't want to ruin any of his good school clothes if his relatives kept this attitude up. _Not to mention what Uncle Vernon would do if I spoiled his punishment. _Harry ignored this last thought and curled his knees to his chest shivering and trying to get comfortable from his spot wedged between his trunk and the lawn mower.

"You ok Hedwig?" he asked sneezing. The owl hooted reassurance, then resumed grooming her feathers.

The fifteen year old wizard tried to ignore his hungry stomach and the persistent cold as the sky grew darker and the noises from Number 4 drifted across the yard. _Things will be better tomorrow._

XXXxxxXXXxxx

It had been a week and things were most certainly **not **better. It seemed the Dursleys did not respond well to threats made by a bunch of 'freaks'! Harry was given a ridiculously long list of chores each morning (today's was literally three notebook pages!) and food was withheld if they weren't completed on time. Needless to say the only thing he had eaten since the train was a bag of crisps he snatched when Dudley dropped in the backyard.

During his first few days his aunt sat him down and had him write out dozens of letters to the Order that she read over for anything resembling code. He was also allowed to bring his trunk inside and take it up to the second bedroom. Combined these alone scared him. He was never allowed his school things during brake, not willingly. _And with the way they've been acting I'd of thought they would sooner burn my school things than let me near them. Then again, it's not like I've had time to do anything with it. _

As for the Dursleys themselves-

His Aunt seemed to ignore him except to critique his chores. Even so, she would often find fault in something and make him redo an entire room completely. She also seemed to have all too frequent 'accidents' around her nephew: tripping and knocking him into the stove or a bucket of bleach, bumping him into table corners or doorways, opening cabinet doors above his head when he was bent over, dropping sharp knives in the sink while Harry was doing the dishes…

His Uncle made no pretence in his treatment of his nephew. He hit the boy, often. Harry had bruises along his chest, back, and stomach from the numerous punches, kicks and elbows he received as punishment for 'misbehavior' and his upper arms were deeply bruised from where he had been grabbed or held and shaken. The verbal abuse was almost as bad. The raven haired teen kept caching himself falling into his six year old mentality that his uncle was right and he deserved to be punished because he was a worthless freak. No matter how hard he tried to think logically, it was hard to withstand the constant degradation and he didn't have letters from any of his friends yet…

Dudley was the most confusing to Harry. He seemed to have stopped harassing his cousin, but Harry noticed the older boy kept trying to get him alone. So far the raven haired teen had avoided him, but Harry could tell he was getting restless. Something was bound to happen between them soon.

Harry himself was close to a breakdown. He had a lingering cough that he couldn't shake, and he was constantly tired and weak. He hadn't been able to sleep, and when he passed out from sheer exhaustion he was haunted by nightmares of Cedric and Sirius, of his possession, of Voldemort; then there were the visions, Harry Couldn't tell if they were real or fake but either way it was hard for a fifteen year old to watch as hundreds of people were killed and tortured.

Currently, said boy was balanced precariously on the top part of a ladder (A/N the part you're not supposed to be on) with a cup of cleaning solution and a tooth brush scrubbing at the molding. _This is getting ridiculous. I had no idea Aunt Petunia could be so creative. _He wobbled dangerously as he overreached trying to get a spot.

Suddenly the front door slammed open and Vernon Dursley was home. Harry jumped and watched horrified as the cup tipped and fell spilling across the entryway. It was like slow motion; Harry was already trying to apologize for the mess as the ladder continued to fall sideways. Everything sped up and Harry felt himself crash into the stairs, the breath knocked out of him, and then the ladder landed on top of his legs.

Harry heard the front door close quietly and his uncle approach him. He whimpered as the obese man kicked the ladder out of his path. _I am in so much trouble. _"Please-"

**A/N:** Okay. Sorry for the cliffy. I already have the next chapter (it's alot longer) and will post as soon as I get reviews…or a review. Please?


	3. Dudley

**Disclaimer: don't own anything recognizable.**

**Warnings: **child abuse, language, see intro for more.

**Chapter 2: Cousins, cars and cop shows.**

Dudley Dursley sat in his bedroom staring blankly at the black computer screen. _This is bad. _

_Flashback_

The wrestling team were joking around in the locker room and trading summer stories, but he was distracted.

"Hey Big D what's up?" Jason asked; he was a skinny red head and regional champion in the light weight division. "Some chick ditch you this summer? You've been off your game since you got back."

"Yeah man what gives?"

"I think – Can you guys keep a secret? A **real** tell this and die secret?" Dudley looked at them seriously.

The guys exchanged looks and nodded, settling quietly or leaning against lockers. _Dudley's never serious. _Jax ran off and locked the door.

"'Course we won't tell D. What's wrong?"

"I think- I think my dad might be abusive. Not to me," he added quickly, "but- Have I ever told you about my cousin?"

"Little Harry? Seriously?" Piers asked blinking.

"Who?"

"Harry, my cousin. This summer something happened, and I've been thinking about it ever since. I can't – I think he might be, like, hard-core abused."

"This is some serious shit D."

"Tell me about it. I know. I _know_, but, it's my _Dad_, and I'm not 100 percent positive…

"I should start at the beginning." Dudley ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Harry's parents died when he was like, one. –We're the same age for those of you who don't know him already. - I don't even know for sure how they died. My parents told us it was a car accident, but someone else once said they were murdered or something, an explosion. Either way he was dumped on our doorstep- literally from the stories I've heard.

"Anyhow he was always in trouble for something. Always doing chores or being punished. It started when we were little. I don't remember a time when it wasn't like that and I never questioned it!" he ran his hand through his hair again, angrily, and then stared at his knees.

"You guys remember what a bully I was when I started at this place. I was the same way back home – still am to be honest – and Harry was my favorite target. When I think about it it's horrible ya know? And my dad encouraged me to do it; to pick on him, beat him up. If he ever fought back enough to hurt me I'd go to Dad and Harry would be punished. I learned that trick early.

"I guess that's why I never questioned things. Part of it anyhow. I mean, he fought back a lot, didn't he Pierce? Even though he knew he'd get it later?"

"Yeah. He was a tough little runt. Smart ass too – even when he couldn't fight back he always had some kinda comeback. Quick ya know?" he said frowning. "I don't know Dud didn't he end up at St. Brutus's?"

"That's the thing. He didn't, doesn't. He goes to – to a gifted school. He's on scholarship or somthin'…Mom and Dad told the neighbors he went to the school for criminals because of appearances or somethin'. They'd never admit Harry was good at something." He frowned again. "That's part of it too I guess. Shit. There's so much stuff I've just ignored.

"I want to believe I'm exaggerating or seeing things that aren't there and my parents wouldn't… but I dunno. The more I think about it the worse it looks. An trust me when I say I'm trying to make it look good." He sighed. "I can't tell – I won't tell anyone, authorities like, until I talk with Harry. I'm not gonna drag my family through that if there's a chance…I should talk to Harry first."

"He's not likely to admit abuse, even if it's true." Cayce, a senior heavy weight threw in. "If he hasn't told someone by now- especially going to a boarding school where they aren't right there – he's either too scared or he's as in denial as you were. Does your dad hit him?"

"-Yes, all the time. Not like- I mean-" Dudley looked lost, and a little sick.

"Let's start easy." Cayce interrupted. "My sister's into the whole law thing. I watch these TV shows with her sometimes…Has he -Harry? - ever been deprived basic human rights? Food, clothing, shelter?"

Dudley frowned, then went pale and nodded. The team shifted and looked at each other uneasily.

"He always wore Dudley's hand-me-downs. I mean, he was our age but so much smaller… It's not like the Dursleys couldn't afford it- but they never spent anything on it if they could avoid it." Piers shrugged and looked guiltily at his friend.

"He would get meals taken away if he really misbehaved. But- it wasn't like 'no dinner', he would go days sometimes before dad would let him eat again. Fuck! I used to think it was funny – one of the chores he had was the cooking. He would make breakfast then dad, sometimes mum even, would say he was still in trouble and he wouldn't be able to eat it. –Shit guys! Fuck! This, this…how could I not see it?" he looked around wild-eyed.

For a moment it was totally silent in the locker rooms.

"You're going to have to talk to some one. I don't think you're seeing things." Cayce said in a gentle voice.

"I need to talk to Harry first."

_End Flashback_

"Dudders! We're going to dinner! Come on Sweetums!" his mother called up the stairs. _As if nothing happened._

Dudley went down the stairs slowly. His parents were waiting at the bottom. "I don't really feel too good. You guys go."

"Are you okay? You look pale. We can stay-"

"No! No, mum I'm fine. I just need quiet and sleep. I think I'm just going to go to bed a bit early."

"I don't know-"

"Really mum! I'm not a baby. I can stay home by my self, can't I dad?" he turned to his father hoping he didn't look as desperate as he felt.

"Of course you can son. Honestly Pet. Leave the boy be; he can handle himself. We can have a night out on our own."

"Yes of course dear. I was just worried. I'm sure you'll be just fine."

Dudley sighed as his parents closed the door and listened as they got in the car and drove off.

XXXxxx

Harry curled tightly in his cupboard, hugging his knees. He closed his eyes fighting to breathe without choking on the dust. His throat was swollen and raw, and something felt loose along his collarbone but the throbbing kept him from touching it. His ribs burned and he hurt all over. His cheek stung and for the first time in years he was scared of his uncle.

The last time he had been hit across the face was in elementary school. It was too visible. Sure Dudley had given him a few black eyes, but schoolyard punches, even those from his cousin were a lot less suspicious than a giant handprint too big to be any child.

Harry shivered at the implications. The Dursleys were **always **careful; he doubted his uncle would have done something so – visible – unless he didn't care about the appearances. The raven haired teen wrapped his arms tighter around himself trying not to think about the other bruises, the ones forming around his throat.

He took a deep breath and promptly choked on dust. He fought desperately to hide the noise of his coughing. Suddenly he was crying. _Ghods who am I kidding. He tried to kill me. I Dudley hadn't come home…would he have really stopped? I'm in my cupboard again. __**My**__ bloody cupboard. He tried to kill me. He really tried to kill me. Oh ghod. He locked me up again. I haven't eaten in days. And my uncle just tried to kill me._

_I gotta get out of here. He's not going to stop next time. I'm such an idiot. Can't even stand up to a muggle. I gotta get out of here soon. Before he kills me. I can handle Voldemort. I just got to get out before __**HE **__kills me._

There was talking in the entryway but he couldn't make himself listen. He must have been laying here for hours. He wiped at his eyes for a moment stopping when he felt the dust that had somehow managed to cover him.

He heard them leave and almost sobbed in relief before he heard the footsteps. _Please no, please no, please… _the lock to the cupboard snapped open and Harry couldn't stop his whimper as the door opened.

XXXxxx

Dudley sighed exasperated. It had taken him a good fifteen minutes to convince Harry to come out of his cupboard and now they were arguing.

"We can't go to the cops! Your parents have friends all up the chain of command. Do you know how easy it is for evidence to disappear, for reports to go missing? Please, don't do anything stupid. By the time my case made it to a judge it would be a joke. Uncle Vernon would probably even get some kind of compensation or something and I wouldn't last five minutes once I got back here. Just – I don't know – we can't…"

"He almost killed you today! Harry! Shit. What – what about your kind? Could you go to them?"

"No. Dudley I – in that world I'm kind of a hero. I am very famous at any rate. It's a long story but it has to do with the dark wiz- the guy who's after me." Harry flinched on 'wizard' as if expecting to be hit. "They are more likely to cover the entire thing up than help me out. No one wants to admit their bloody savior might be hurt by a mere muggle." He looked away ashamed. "Besides, you heard last summer. I need blood protection – I need to stay with relatives."

"Well is it that you need to stay here, or just stay with a blood relative?"

"What? I don't know. I think a relative, maybe…oh. But there's no one else."

"We could run away. If I go with you you'd be protected right?"

"I – maybe. Are you serious? There's no way!" Harry flinched and wrapped his arms around himself, breathing hard.

"Come on Harry! You can't tell me you'd be safer here. I'll go with you. I can call a couple of friends; we can find somewhere to crash…" Dudley trailed off trying to look him in the eye, but Harry was looking down toying with his shirt.

"Do you know what Uncle Vernon would do to me if I ran away?" Harry bit his lip fighting to not get his hopes up. "I – he's gonna be so angry."

"Harry-" Dudley trailed off catching his last sentence. "I have duffels upstairs. I need to make a few calls. – He can only do something if he catches us."

"You mean it?" Harry looked up emerald eyes searching his cousin's face. "You aren't – this isn't a game?"

Dudley's heart sank. "Come get one of my gym bags we need to leave soon."

Harry followed his cousin up the stairs, wincing occasionally as he put weight on his left knee. At the top of the stairs Dudley rushed through his room and came out carrying a red and black medium sized duffle. He eyed his cousin in concern as the smaller teen hugged his ribs, his breathing uneven.

"Is this big enough? I don't know what kind of – stuff – you need and we won't be coming back."

"It's plenty big. Most of my school stuff is replaceable. I only need a few things." He took the bag and turned to the second bedroom fumbling with the locks he wasn't allowed to touch.

Harry stared at his trunk's contents, pulling out his cloak and photo album. Ignoring the books and parchment Harry found his wand and a bag of galleons, his vault key and a pair of pajamas that fit properly. His collarbone ached from this minimal exertion, and his ribs throbbed fiercely. He carefully leaned against his trunk as he coughed helplessly. Tears filled his eyes but he refused to let them fall, pushing past the pain and turning back toward his trunk. He hesitated then grabbed his school shirts and a few pairs of pants, _at least they fit,_ and a couple of Weasley sweaters. Finally he grabbed the Map and he zipped the bag closed. It looked pitifully empty.

"How are you doing?" Dudley came in with a much larger duffle stuffed with his things and a smaller bag. "I packed us food and a couple of fleeces. Do you need help?"

"I think that's it. I really don't have – and books are heavy…" Harry stared at his smaller bag knowing his cousin was too.

"We can pick up some things in London. Piers will be here in a bit; he's got a car. Did you pack toiletries? I didn't hear you go to the bathroom…"

Harry shook his head and dug into his trunk pulling out the mesh bag he kept his bath things in and adding it to his duffle. He stood shakily.

"What time is it? This is a bad idea. I – please Dudley?" Harry wasn't sure what he was asking his cousin, but he was so scared all of the sudden.

"Relax little cousin. Everything's going to be okay now. Mum and Dad have only been gone for 30 minutes, less even. Dinner will take at least an hour, two if they do drinks and dessert, then there's the drive time."

"What if they change their minds and come back?"

"I'll protect you Harry." Dudley answered firmly.

"Really?" Harry asked quietly. No one had ever offered to protect **him** before.

"Yes." Dudley answered seriously. Realizing how much his cousin needed reassurance. "I promise"

Harry looked up at him with wide green eyes and Dudley nearly winced at the livid black eye and the dark bruises around that throat. "Okay."

And just like that Dudley realized he had his cousin's trust. _After everything I've done to him he trusts me. I've never seen him look so defenseless. Has he always been such a little kid? _A car pulled up in the drive and Harry jumped then winced in pain, his arms wrapping around himself.

"Easy it's probably Piers." Dudley rushed downstairs to greet his friend opening the door at the tentative knock. "Thanks man. You're a lifesaver. My stuff's still upstairs. Harry too."

"Is the kid ok?" Piers asked quietly following his friend.

"He's alive. I shouldn't have waited damn it!" Dudley clenched his jaw and opened the door to Harry's room.

"Dudley?" Harry asked anxiously, having missed most of the conversation. He spotted Piers and tilted his chin up defiantly, changing his stance.

"It's ok Harry. Piers is driving us to London, remember?" Dudley blinked at the change in his cousin.

"Fuck! Who did you like that?" Piers demanded, jumping in.

"I'm fine." Harry's hand lifted to his throat automatically. "So can we go now?"

"Yeah. Let's get outta here. It's gonna be okay." Dudley lifted his bags and turned to head downstairs when Harry screamed.

The raven haired teen dropped his bag clutching his shoulder. The older boys rushed over but Harry stepped back biting his lip.

"I'm sorry. It's not that heavy. I'm sorry." Harry's eyes were on the ground. _Ghod I'm such a wuss._

"It's okay! Harry it's ok." Dudley looked over at his friend somehow managing to look both helpless and murderous at the same time.

"I'll get your bag, kid. You're banged up pretty bad. Let's get out of here." The teen grabbed the bag hiding his surprise when the bag couldn't have weighed more than 5lbs.

Harry made it down the stairs and settled into the back of the sports car as his cousin locked the door.

"I borrowed my sister's cell," Piers was saying "even if the cops suspect me they won't have any way to track you down. Are you positive you don't want to go to the cops?"

"We can't risk it."

"Damn it. Well I called Benny J. He's got a flat in London, or his parents do, and he gave me directions." They were driving now. "He isn't there now but they keep a spare key and he gave me the security code for inside."

XXXxxx

They pulled into a parking space near the back entrance. Benny J. had given clear directions and they found the place easily. Dudley climbed out his door and popped his seat forward. Harry was curled up asleep in the back. At the sudden noise he jerked awake, blinking.

"It's just me little cousin. Come on, we're here." He helped the younger boy climb out then grabbed the heavier bag from his friend.

"It's on the third floor but there's an elevator. Once you're settled stay put. Benny said he'd stop in in the morning with food. I have this phone number so answer if it rings or you can call my sister's cell. I'll tell her something to keep her quiet about it. Her number is-"

"I have her number."

"What are you doing with my baby sister's number!?" he demanded.

"Err…nothing. You were telling me how this is supposed to work?"

"Just stay away from my sister Dursley." Piers let them into the flat and turned off the alarm system. "Well Benny says he knows a guy who can keep you under the radar. It should be cake. Stay inside. Don't call too many people. Get some sleep tonight, and take care of the kid. You can explain when he's safe." He sighed and helped Dudley pull off the boy's shoes; somehow he had already curled up on the couch. "He's really just our age. A couple months younger, but he's in our grade. How did this happen? I know I would have noticed something like this in school."

"I don't think it's ever been this bad. I mean Dad never hit him across the face and he certainly never tried to strangle him before. I – at least I hope he never. Not in years for sure. I just – we were so horrible to him. I can't believe this is happening."

"Talk about impulsive decisions. I won't tell anyone Big D I promise. I gotta go. Malcolm promised to cover for me so I have an alibi."

"You scare me sometimes Piers; lay off the cop shows."

XXXxxx

A/N: Wasn't that worth a review? A short one even? For chocolate chocolate chip cookies?


	4. meetings

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

**Warnings:** language, child abuse, see intro for all

**Chapter 3. Crossing of Paths**

Dudley woke the next morning to the unfamiliar sounds of the city. After deciding he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, he gathered his bag and went to shower.

Harry was still sleeping on the couch when the older boy came out to find food. It was unnerving to see him like that and it took Dudley a minute to work out why: _Harry's always awake first. That or he's locked up elsewhere. In all the years we've lived together I can't remember seeing him asleep like this._ He looked **tiny**. Curled up on the couch with his arms around his knees and his messy raven hair covering most of his pale face, Harry looked **innocent.**

Sighing Dudley turned to the kitchen and began sorting through the random food he brought: squished bread, miscellaneous fruit, bags of noodles and rice, a box of Chocolate Crunchies, a box of granola bars, a couple bags of crisps, two cans of soup and a twelve pack of coke. He selected an apple and found a bowl for his cereal.

Harry woke achy and sluggish. After several long seconds of confusion and disorientation, the teen remembered the events of the previous night. He climbed to his feet wincing and wide-eyed. _Dudley's really done it. It wasn't some joke. – Uncle Vernon can't find me. Where am I?_ He tensed as he heard noises from the kitchen.

"I could have fixed breakfast if you woke me." Harry murmured from the doorway shifting uneasily.

"Harry! You're up! I expected you to sleep till noon. You should sit. What about breakfast?" he was out of his seat and guiding the smaller boy to the table before Harry could get a word out. "Don't worry about it. I didn't bring making stuff. We have cereal, no milk, fruit, granola bars, and bread for toast. What can I get you?"

"Really Dudley – I can fix my own-" Harry tried overwhelmed.

"Nonsense. You're hurt. I'll fix you breakfast then you can eat it and get back in bed. I'd of brought you food there if I knew you would be up wandering. Seriously cousin, take it easy for a change. I want you to get better. Ok? Now, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Um…toast?" Harry asked tentatively, looking at his cousin as if he just sprouted extra heads.

Harry ended up eating several pieces of toast, and part of a banana before finally convincing Dudley he couldn't stomach anymore.

"Can I shower before you send me back to bed?" Harry asked half-seriously as he pushed the remainder of his breakfast towards his cousin.

"Of course Harry. I didn't mean…"He looked his cousin over regretting his bossiness. "Harry I'm not going to hurt you. I'm sorry. About everything. I am trying to make things right and I know it's going to take time to break old habits and adjust to – this – you know?" Dudley looked uncomfortable with his speech.

"I know," Harry couldn't manage anymore, this was all so eerie. _I'm gonna wake up any second now and none of this will be real anyhow. _He turned abruptly and went to his duffle. He found his pajamas and shower bag then hurried to the bathroom.

The hot water felt good against his skin. Everything hurt. His knee was bruised and looked swollen. Harry tried not to notice the numerous injuries as best he could while cleaning himself. He frowned as the water at his feet began running pink. Unnerved he began searching for the cut, relieved when the water turned clear again. _What ever it was can't be too bad then. Ah…_He found a gash running up his right calf. It looked shallow and had already stopped bleeding. He sighed and continued to wash quickly and carefully.

The dark blue pajamas didn't cover the bruises around his throat, and the pants were a little long covering his feet, but he'd had them for two years now. Harry brushed his teeth trying to ignore the visible bruises and thankful the mirror couldn't talk. The teen cleaned his mess carefully and headed out.

"Wow. Where'd you get those? Is that _silk?_" Dudley looked his cousin over critically.

"Um…" Harry froze, "I got them for school." He fingered the material. "Yes they're silk."

"Cool." Dudley shook his head noticing his cousin's nervousness. "Feeling any better?"

"The shower helped." He admitted. "I'm gonna get a glass of water. Which room can I sleep in?" he called disappearing into the kitchen.

"Any of them. Benny didn't say…" he was cut off by a knock on the door.

He cautiously peered through the peephole as he recognized his friend with the stranger.

"Hey Big D! Thought we'd knock instead of bargin' in. How the hell have you been?" The red head entered grinning

"Benny J. what's up man? Who's this?" Dudley eyed the blond.

"This is one of my _connections_. I called in a favor. He goes by the code name 'the Prince'. Prince meet Big D., Dudley meet Prince."

XXXxxx

Harry took his water out to the living room as the boys exchanged greetings. He stopped in the doorway with a small gasp, dropping his glass.

"Malfoy?" he asked incredulously. Another gasp and he was looking down the barrel of a gun.

The raven haired teen froze staring. It wasn't Draco, it wasn't even his father, but from the reaction, Harry had no doubt this was a Malfoy. A Malfoy using a **muggle** gun. A Malfoy who knew where he had run to now because he apparently knew his **muggle** cousin's **muggle** friend. _I think the room is spinning. What the hell is going on?_

"I think we need to chill out." Benny J. spoke softly holding his hands out in an appeasing gesture.

XXXxxx

The Prince stared at the boy in the door way. _A wizard. No one else would recognize a Malfoy. _He had a nasty black eye and a ring of bruises around his neck. _This is the kid I'm supposed to help. _

He had been briefed in the car. A friend's cousin was being abused, and bad from what Benny knew. The kid wouldn't go to the cops (_with good reason) _but the cousin convinced him to run away. He was here to create new identities for the boys and keep them from getting themselves caught.

Really it was a simple mission. The boys were unlikely to make big news much less need fake histories or documents. He was involved because Benny's father wanted the boy kept out of trouble and the kid requested him specifically. _Damn crime lords can't keep a good contact to themselves. They have to tell everyone they know about me. _It didn't matter, he was getting some big money for the relatively cushy job of playing babysitter for two months.

At least, it hadn't mattered until the damned raven haired boy recognized him. He watched the boy for a moment longer, those green eyes impossibly wide and frightened.

"I think we need to chill out."

He shrugged easily and put the gun away. He settled back and watched the boy shake himself. There was something about him that made the Prince want to either pull the gun back out or pick the boy up and cuddle him. _I do not cuddle. Damn voices._

"Let's sit. Watch that glass, kid." His voice was low and silky.

As the blond settled in a chair Dudley got a clear mental picture of a big cat, and the impression of danger and power. _As if the gun wasn't a clear enough sign of that. He has to look intimidating too. Royalty suits him._

"What the hell?!? I thought you were here to help, not wave a gun around at Harry like that! Shit." Dudley was angry and protective, not liking the intimidation.

"I'm fine Dudley." The boy said quietly, settling on the couch. "What's this about?"

"Oy kid you know how to make a fucking awesome entrance! Shit man."

"Harry this is Benny J., Benny this is the cousin I told you about. Anyhow Harry, Benny knows some people in high places, and he offered to help. These guys are going to make sure no one finds us. That's how it was explained to me at least." He turned to the other guys curious.

"Correct" was all the blond would say to that.

"Honestly!" Benny snorted. "The Prince is a genius at the undercover thing. He is legendary. We can make you disappear. It'll be fuckin' awesome! I can't wait!"

"Well you'll have to wait till tomorrow at least. Harry's not doin' anything today. He's hurt." Dudley glared at his friend for seemingly not caring about the reason behind the disguise.

"Damn it. Oh well." He held his hands up and turned sheepishly to Harry. "Sorry kid. I didn't mean to sound like that. Someone really fucked you up ya know? I'm just not good with sick people. I ignore them mostly. Ya know?"

"Um…okay. I'm fine really." Harry looked confused and even more so at the incredulous looks he received for his reassurances.

"Harry," Dudley started in a slow quiet voice "you're not 'fine'. You were hurt bad and even if your injuries weren't half as nasty as I know they are everything would still not be 'fine'. Do you understand that?" The room felt heavy and tense.

"I – Dudley seriously, I am okay and were here now, so what's the big deal?" Harry asked. He was honestly confused and just wanted the subject dropped. _I'm just fine._

"The big deal is that you're not ok. Not really. I'm not a shrink, but even I know people aren't okay the morning after someone tries to murder them!" Dudley continued exasperated. _Is he lying or does he really believe he's fine now? I mean, he has to be upset or __**something!**_

"But he **didn't **murder me," Harry pointed out logically.

"That doesn't make what happened any less real or the event any less traumatizing because 'he' isn't here now." The Prince interjected quietly.

"I'm not traumatized." Harry protested stubbornly. _I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine…_

"You're not 'fine' at the very least. And to avoid talking in circles while you are in denial, you can go to sleep. I can discuss preliminary safety measures with your cousin and get started on your new identities."

"No." Harry asserted suddenly remembering who was here, and not liking the dismissal. _Like hell I'm gonna let a Malfoy alone with my cousin while I sleep._

"No?" the Prince asked narrowing his eyes.

"I don't trust you." His eyes making it clear why.

"Perhaps we could settle this in privet?" he asked, looking the wizardling over. _This needs to be dealt with now. _He was pleased when the boy nodded and stood, moving toward one of the rooms.

Harry hoped the room he chose was a bedroom. He was tired and achy and well past the point where he physically needed the extra hours. Relieved, he looked around the blue room finally settling on the bed and looking at the older boy. _Wizard, Malfoy…_

"You're a Malfoy." It wasn't a question. "What are you doing here?"

"I **am **a Malfoy; however you are to refer to me as the Prince or not at all. I do not need a big mouthed little brat like Benny knowing my name. As to why I'm here I made that clear earlier. Weren't you listening?" the blond lifted an eyebrow looking remarkably like Malfoy, Draco that is.

"I don't believe you." Harry stated firmly.

"You said yourself I'm a Malfoy, now you don't believe it?" he asked mockingly.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" _Damn him if he thinks I'm going to let him hand me over to his father or Voldemort. _

"Listen here wizardling, I am here because I am getting big bucks to baby-sit you lot and insure that _you _are out of your relatives hands. I am here as a muggle as far as you are concerned, and as far as I am concerned, you are a muggle."

"That's supposed to be comforting coming from a Malfoy?" Harry interjected.

"Whatever you think you know about me or my family little wizardling, you can forget." He growled leaning in close as his face hardened and his voice dipped into deadly tones. "I am not a man to be messed with, and you are getting on my last nerve. Whatever you may think of my family name it has no bearing on this conversation."

"I beg to differ. How am I supposed to trust you not to go running home or even straight to your bloody _Lord_ to tell them about this place?"

"I doubt my father would give a damn about you one way or another. As for the Dark Lord I owe him no allegiance." He glared at the little brat.

"You're joking." Harry gave him a funny look.

"Believe what you wish wizardling. I have a job to do, and I intend to do it." His lips twitched as he gave the boy a once over. "Honestly, who do you think you are that the Dark Lord would be interested in a little bit like you?"

Harry froze his emerald eyes going wide. "You really don't know?" he asked in a hoarse whisper, feeling dizzy.

"No." Prince started slowly taking in the boy's suddenly frightened and uncertain body language. "Tell me."

Harry swallowed and shook his head, suddenly wondering what the older guy would do if he knew. _He pulled a gun on me for just knowing who he was, how would he handle finding out my name?_

"I could always just ask your cousin."

"I want an Oath that you will not tell anyone I am here and that you won't harm me or give me over to people who would, up to and including your family." Harry swallowed trying to look confident.

"Who are you?" he asked again gazing at the green eyed boy who seemed to think he was that important. "I told you before I do not intend to give you away to anyone looking for you, just the opposite. If you feel it is necessary…do I have your word that you will cooperate if I give you such an Oath?" at Harry's nod he shrugged. "I swear on my life and magic to not reveal the identity or location of…"

"Harry James Potter."

"…Harry James Potter until he says otherwise, nor will I allow any harm to come to him within my control, so long as he is in my care. So mote it be." He looked the boy over again as the magic washed over them. "Satisfied?"

"Thank you." Harry eyed the other uncertainly waiting for questions or any kind of reaction but none came.

"Go to bed then. I will see you around lunch time no doubt."

XXXxxx

Harry managed to get another two hours of sleep before the nightmares woke him up. He lay there shaking and sweating as silent tears soaked his pillow. _Why won't it stop? I'm so tired. Why won't it stop? Please, why won't it stop? God make it stop._

His head was pounding and his chest hurt. He sobbed once, trying to stop his tears. Instead, he went into a coughing fit, choking and gasping. He sat up trying to breathe and giving up on staying silent. It hurt so much to cough. There was a knock on the door and he heard Dudley ask if he was alright. Harry tried to answer, but found he couldn't form the words between the racking coughs.

The door opened quickly and his cousin was there holding his shoulders as they shook. Someone thrust a glass of water into his hands. He spilt part of it on himself and choked on his first sip before the cold water soothed his throat. After his breathing calmed Harry found himself being closely examined by all three boys.

"Harry…You need a doctor. You're hurt-"

"No. Dudley I can't. Someone could recognize me. I won't go."

"You're messed up pretty bad kid. You need to see a doc. Shit man. You don't look good at all."

"No."

"Please Harry. What if something's broken? I can't just sit here and pretend you're perfectly healthy. You're hurt and sick, and I don't have the faintest idea in how to take care of you."

"No doctors, no hospitals. I'm fine, it's just a cough."

"You are not fine. How about we compromise?" Malfoy interjected. "I know first aid. I can examine you and see what I can treat. **If **I believe you are in life-threatening condition, you will go to a doctor who I can guarantee won't ask questions. No don't interrupt. If you are **not** critical, you don't have to go and I will heal you as best I am able." He gave Harry a pointed look as he said 'heal' and the brunet shifted slightly. "It would be best if you simply went to the doctor either way…"

"No. I guess you can look me over. I'm not dying," he stated more confidently "so you can all stop fussing. You won't pretend to get me to go to the doctor either way?"

"No, it will be an honest assessment. Do you want lunch first?"

"I'm not hungry." He ducked his head at their looks. "Maybe later."

"Do you want your cousin to stay in the room? I will need you to take off your clothing."

"No. I'll be okay. You want to do this _now?_" Harry shifted uneasily, chewing his lip.

"Why not? Benny, Dudley why don't you go watch TV? We can resume our discussion after I examine the boy."

"I'm not a boy." Harry grumbled as the others left.

"All the same. Can you get yourself out of those pajamas; you can leave the boxers on?" he settled back, turning around to give him some privacy.

The Prince turned back to the boy as he felt the bed dip. The raven haired boy was sitting uncertainly in the center of the bed looking down and chewing on his lip. _Nervous habit, I'll have to remember that one. _His breath caught as he looked the boy over. Aside from his face and neck, the boy's torso was littered in dark, ugly bruises. One leg had a massive bruise and that knee was nearly twice the size of the other. His other leg seemed to be cut open and beginning to scab. His upper arms were circled in deep bruises, blurred at the edges where older bruising was beginning to heal. The worst of it though was the scarring. Dozens of tiny scars stood out brilliantly against the black and purple bruises covering his chest and stomach. _This has been going on for years. _He thought to himself, his eyes caught on a pattern of scars that clearly spelt out the word 'FREAK', perfectly healed. _**That**__ has been there for years. _

"What did he do to you wizardling?" he murmured aloud.

"Nothing." Harry protested automatically, flinching at the Malfoy's abrupt focus.

He sighed before pulling out a PDA and taking notes on the wizardling's appearance. "Can you turn so I can see your back?"

He fought back a growl looking at the damage. The boy's back was as badly bruised as his front with one exception. Up and down were long thick scars where he had obviously been whipped at some point, and the crisscrossing patterns indicated it was more than a one time deal. The Prince startled out of his furious musings when Harry began to tremble slightly.

"Okay. I'm going to examine you now. If you could lay down on your back for me."

He rubbed his hands together to warm them before touching the boy. He started at the boy's head, feeling for injuries or tenderness, moving down to his neck, apologizing quietly when the brunet stiffened and nearly panicked. He continued down the boy's body touching, pressing, and asking quiet questions and typing notes. He took a pulse reading and observed his breathing.

"I'm going to press on your ribs gently, let me know if anything hurts, more than the bruising. Okay, deep breath for me." He paused as Harry whimpered in pain.

"Hurts," he confirmed, obviously remembering earlier reprimands

"Okay. Last thing and this is very important, so I need you to answer honestly." He waited for a nod of confirmation. "Good. Were you ever touched or used sexually?"

"WHAT!!! No. Never! Ugh." Harry looked horrified and shocked by the very thought, and he was satisfied that this was an honest answer.

"Thank God for small favors. Moving on. You have two options at this point. You are in bad shape. You have a lot of internal injuries and a broken collarbone. This puts you outside my abilities for first aid; **however**, I could heal you magically in small bits."

"Magically."

"Don't interrupt. Now here's the flip side to magic. I am completely off ministry radar, and intend to stay that way. This means I am limited to mostly wandless magic and potions. It will take weeks, possibly months to heal you completely and you would have to trust me to use magic on you freely. My magic technique is a bit – different than anything you've probably experienced before and you would have to take my advice and instructions without argument."

"That sounds fair. Do you really do wandless magic? How come the ministry can't track that, that doesn't make sense? What kind of magic do you use?"

"Questions later for now hold still, I'm going to start on your internal bleeding before I go fetch my potions and an overnight bag. I get the feeling I'm going to need it." He closed his eyes and clapped his hands and rubbed his palms together slowly, then faster focusing on the magic; very carefully he leaned over the boy pulling his hands apart and placing them forcefully on his abdomen.

Harry gasped as the magic zapped into him and sped around, joining his own in healing his injuries. It was unlike any kind of healing he had ever experienced.

"I saw that in a movie once 'The Karate Kid' and had to learn how." Malfoy grinned, "You'd be shocked how much your magic will respond to you if you are determined." He winked and stood stretching. "Eat something while I'm out. Potions are bad on an empty stomach."

Harry began to feel drowsy and spent. Something about the healing left him exhausted.

"Oh about your new look. Is there anything in particular you want to do or don't want to do?"

"Like what?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

"Well your cousin is wanting piercings or a tattoo and will dye his hair but refuses to cut it."

"Um I don't think I want to let someone poke me with needles. Honestly dress me in Slytherin colors and clothes that fit and no one would recognize me." Harry shrugged skeptical. "Aren't you supposed to know how to do this stuff?"

"I just wanted to see what impressions you already had. The other boys are being near impossible with their preconceptions. So nothing that hurts you and I have free range on your new look?" he confirmed his eyes glinting oddly and Harry nodded uncertainly.

_What have I gotten myself into? _Harry shivered as the older boy slipped out of his borrowed room. He yawned and settled into the pillow already drifting off.

A/N: Soo. Didja like it?

About Dudley: he is very uncertain how to act around his cousin. He has been trying to come to terms with the fact that his **Father **is a highly abusive person, and **he helped **aid the abuse. He is not very smart, and wouldn't be the type of person to read books to figure out how to help someone who has been abused. He is trying to handle his cousin based on stuff he's seen on TV or the movies. He's had a year to think about it and Harry's reactions don't always make sense to him.

About Malfoy: I deliberately didn't call him by his full name or provide a description of him for two reasons. Harry only sees him as a Malfoy right now, and no, he doesn't know how they are related, but all Harry sees is the name and the family as a whole. Malfoy himself has been raised away from his family. He goes by 'the Prince' and relates to that name more than he does 'Briar Malfoy'. There's a lot more to this that will come up soon.

A/N 2: How would you feel if I made Harry an Empath? I hate stories that have too many random factors tacked on. I can make it feasible and realistic, or I can leave it out. It's not a key factor in my story. Let me know!!


	5. Prince Briar Malfoy

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything here

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own anything here.

**Warning:** language, see intro

**A/N: **Dedicated to all of my reviewers who helped me to keep writing this.

**Chapter 4: Revelations, New Looks, and Old Friends**

Briar Malfoy did not like mysteries. He was very deliberate in rooting out every detail of a situation before he got himself into it. This was one of the things that made him a very popular name in the underground market. He prided himself on being the best at finding every detail about a person or thing that caught his interest. He could find his target's dirtiest secrets, their most carefully hidden agendas; he could study their personalities and predict what they would do in a situation before even they did. He managed to find information on the cleanest of people. It wasn't that he was into blackmail or extortion; on the contrary, he loved the layers and careful detailing it took to cover up such things carefully, successfully. It was a well circulated rumor that at age ten he was hacking into military spy networks for fun. It was also a very true rumor with the exception being his age; he was cracking military security by age eight. Therefore it was incredibly infuriating to know that an emerald eyed child had slipped under his radar.

He had only just flipped on the news at his house to find the faces of his charges. There were already news stations taking interest in the boys' disappearance. It should have taken much longer to reach this stage. It hadn't even been 24 hours yet! Teenagers ran away all the time… _Kidnapping? _He grinded his teeth together as he listened to the reporter. _What evidence? Bloody hell. That's the Ministry of Magic's number. Who the hell is Harry Potter? And why don't I already know?_

XXXxxx

Dudley Dursley was attempting to make soup. Canned soup. And he was failing.

"Bloody hell why is it still lumpy? Stop laughing you asshole and come help. It's cold too."

"Wow D. you're helpless. One can of soup one can of water mix over heat. How do you mess up canned soup?" Benny J picked himself off the floor and went to help. "No wonder it's cold, you have the wrong burner on! How on earth did you not notice you had the wrong burner on!?"

"Hey guys, what's going on?" a voice asked sleepily from the doorway.

"Harry! You should be in bed!" Dudley scolded gently.

"Hey Little Bit! Dudley was massacring lunch! Hungry?" He winked and grinned.

"Do you need help? I can do that." Harry slid himself between the boys expertly, slipping the pot out of his cousin's hand and moving the pot to the hot burner. He adjusted the temperature and took the whisk from the other boy before either could say a word against it.

"He's good." Benny said enviously glancing between the doorway and the raven haired teen.

"Harry you shouldn't be up. I can figure this out. Prince said something about multiple fractures. We were going to bring you soup in bed."

"Thank you." Harry blinked up at his cousin uncertain how to react. _He said he wouldn't hurt me, and he doesn't seem mad, but I always cook. I don't see what the big deal is; he never minded when I was hurt before. I don't need coddling. I __**like **__to cook even. What does being hurt have to do with anything?_

"See look you got the lumps out for me. I can heat it up. Why don't you take it easy for a while? Please?" he added to make it sound less like an order.

"I – okay Dudley." He fidgeted passing over the whisk and slipping back out of the room. _I don't understand people._

Harry crawled back in the bed, visibly cringing at the thought of going back to sleep, but willing to lie down to appease the other boys.

XXXxxx

The Prince stormed out of his house, overnight bag in hand, and headed for the tube station. Six back alley passages and half an hour later, he slunk into a cheesy tourist shop. Carefully avoiding people he slipped through a door labeled 'Employees Only'.

He moved a stack of boxes sideways and slipped into a tunnel. Carefully he replaced the boxes to hide his exit before resuming his rampage.

"Scorpius you son of a bitch! What the hell is going on?" Briar never cursed, so it was a fairly good indicator of his mood that he wasn't even fully in the room before going off on the older man behind the desk.

"Good morning to you too nephew. Or afternoon, rather. What can I do for you?"

"You can cut the crap and tell me why the MOM is looking so hard for some preteen when there's a war going on?" he glared slipping into Prince mode.

Scorpius actually dropped the teacup he was holding into his lap. The Prince glared harder. That was not an anticipated reaction. This was going to be a horrid day.

"I never told you the Harry Potter stories?"

"Obviously not _**uncle. **_Care to elaborate now?" his voice dropped into quieter and more dangerous tones.

"Yes, well… You know that shortly before you were brought to me the Dark Lord known as Voldemort fell?

"Correct. And?"

"Well I guess we never discussed **how** he fell. No one knows exactly what happened that night, but the upstart heir of Slytherin went to knock off the Potters personally. All of them. The parents each took an AK and Voldemort turned on the kid with another AK. The kid survived the attack and only part of the dark lord did. Harry Potter has been famous since before he was out of diapers."

"He reversed a killing curse?" Briar asked going numb. _Who would cast something _so _vile at a child?_

"Who knows? A killing curse was defiantly cast after Lilly Potter died, the wards recorded as much, but after that everything went to hell. I say it was a combination of things. The little brat's shown he has power; his mother was an Unspeakable, and practically a Charms Mistress, and James Potter wasn't lacking in power or creativity himself. If they experimented with protection wards while in hiding, they might have come close enough to something for the boy's natural defenses to do something with the curse."

"That's plausible."

"Better than Dumbbell's theory: LOVE did it." Scorpius scoffed.

"As if other mothers hadn't died protecting their children." The Prince sneered, but his eyes were dark as he thought of his own mother.

"So anyways the kid on the news is probably the most sought after person in the wizarding world right now: weapon of the Light, foe of the Dark. According to the general populace, he's supposed to win or lose this war."

"So if he's so important, why is this the first I've heard of him?" he snapped, grey eyes flashing dangerously.

"Well you don't associate with the wizarding world at all. I suppose it was an oversight on my part in teaching you history…" Scorpius waved off his concern and anger.

"Any other oversights?" he asked mildly.

"Well I should hope not, but you will probably hack my files later anyways to read up if I know you at all."

"Naturally."

"So what really has you in a huff? You don't usually concern yourself with the other World. Your newest assignment?"

"Yeah the loudmouth with 'connections'. It's sickening how they're acting. It's an insult to all us honest Family members." The Prince lied easily.

"Ouch. I did warn you to say no."

"Shut up. I ought to get back soon anyways, before they do something stupid—er."

"Go, go. I understand. Hey maybe you could look into the Harry Potter kid. He would be worth quite a bit to just about anyone…"

"You know how I feel about that place. Unless the kid falls into my lap, I want nothing to do with this search. I plan on avoiding it all together." The Prince shrugged honestly.

"Too bad really. Take care Briar, my Prince."

"Always."

XXXxxx

The Prince entered the apartment silently. He passed the two boys in the living room, noting with some disgust that neither had even noticed him. He carried his bag straight to the blue room. Green eyes flashed to him before he was fully in the room. The Prince gave him a small nod of approval and quickly took in the lunch tray off to the side and the book in his lap.

"A romance novel wizardling?"

"It's not my fault that's all there is to read in this place!" Harry blushed furiously. "And I gotta stay in bed."

"Yes I know. I recall leaving you those instructions. I will see about finding other books for you. Did you actually eat that lunch or just pick at it?"

"I ate most of it."

"Good. I brought potions." He dug through his bag quickly offering no further explanation. He offered four vials to the boy. "Drink."

"What are they?"

"You agreed to follow my instructions without question. Drink."

Harry studied the blank expression for a moment before setting down the book and accepting the potions. His hands shook unsteadily for a moment but he managed to drink the nasty concoctions without spilling.

"Good wizardling." He murmured gently, his hands efficiently taking back the vials and slipping them back into the case.

Harry didn't know whether to beam proudly or be insulted for being treated like a dog. Instead he crossed his arms over his chest defensively, "now what?"

"Now you rest while I get things started with your cousin. I am going to set up some security in your room now, an alarm for that window and a security camera. The other rooms will have the same. Just ignore me."

"You're going to put a camera in my room?" Harry looked at him in alarm.

"You won't even notice it. It's more to make sure no one breaks into your room than to spy on you. I have much better things to do with my time than watch some preteen read trashy romance." The Prince spoke in a low lazy voice, amused at his concern. He made a slow circuit of the room touching things.

"I'm fifteen! I'm gonna be sixteen soon. I'm **not** a preteen." Harry flushed pink hating how defensive he got around this Malfoy.

"I'm arming this window," he continued in that low voice, "don't open it without getting me first. The alarm is silent and I will be coming in with my weapon out."

"That gun? You use it?" the younger boy chewed on his lip.

"Correct. There is little point in carrying a gun if you do not intend to use it. Now get some rest. If you are well enough to get up tomorrow, we can begin your transformation. Your cousin I will start with this afternoon." He turned and left before the green eyed child could respond.

XXXxxx

Harry blinked at the closed doors. _What about the camera? He didn't do that did he? _Green eyes scanned the room anxiously. _I don't understand him. A Malfoy in the muggle world. I don't get it. And he's always so…odd. He's dangerous but not and he swore that oath…I am so confused. _He turned back to the book with a sigh. _Romance is better than sleeping I guess._

XXXxxx

The Prince finished bugging the entire house before he finally snapped at the two teens in front of the telly. "I hope you plan on paying better attention to your safety than this. I could have come to hurt you, or the little bit, and you wouldn't have noticed." He lounged back against the wall.

"Harry!"

"He's fine, I've already checked on him. It's you boys I'm upset over. This is not a game. You must be more aware of your surroundings."

"Well it is your job to be unnoticed. You can't really blame us." Benny snapped.

"If I was making any kind of effort to remain unnoticed I would not. As it is you boys are either dangerously oblivious or fools."

"That's not fair-" Dudley started.

"Either you shape up and start paying attention or you can forget about ever leaving this place. I will not jeopardize your safety for the sake of letting you dress up and play secret agent games. You hired me to protect you and to hide you. It has become disturbingly obvious that you cannot look out for yourselves.

"I have put a security system in place. No windows are to be opened ant ht front door stays shut. Do not test me on this. Also do not make any phone calls or answer any calls to the home line. We are done discussing this."

_Hope you liked that. Sorry for the wait. I will try to update more reliably._


	6. Haircuts

**Disclaimer: I don't own this.**

**Chapter 5 Haircuts and a bit more**

The Prince spent the next two days sorting through every file the Company had on Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, and current events in the wizarding world. It was disturbing how little solid information there was on his charge considering the frequency he appeared in the press. It was even more shocking how often the Wizarding World brushed off traumatizing and life threatening events when it came to his wizardling. The kid never seemed to get a break.

Even more disturbing was the lack of government research into the Dark lord. No one seemed to care where he came from or what resources he could have. _Fools, until last month they hadn't even considered his return. A full year they gave the upstart because they couldn't bother to investigate a claim. _It bothered him the 'facts' that the MOM took seriously without any consideration to fact or research. _It's insulting to intelligence agents everywhere. I forgot why I hated the wizarding world so much. They're idiots._

He shut down his system again after reviewing the Hogwarts medical file on Harry for the fifth time. He stood and stretched. _Time to check on my wizardling. _He walked down the short hall and knocked softly once.

"Come in." came through softly followed by a raspy cough.

"Morning wizardling. How do you feel today?" He crossed the room swiftly and settled on the side of the bed, lifting a hand to feel Harry's temperature.

"Fine-erm, I mean, my throat is scratchy and I can't stop coughing." he amended quickly at Prince's glare. "It hurts when I cough." He added in a quieter tone as he tucked away a book.

"Can you take a breath for me?" The Prince forced himself to ignore the odd impulse to hug the shy teen. _I don't cuddle._ Instead, he allowed his magic to flow from his hands and explore the damage and the healing.

Closing his eyes he dropped into a healing trance following his magic as it felt out each of the body systems. A familiar feeling of the wizardling's magic touching his sent a warm tingle through him and he allowed himself to give the magical presence a reassuring pat before sending it away. He remained in the body for a short while lingering over the lung function before drifting back out.

"Congratulations. You can get out of bed today if you'd like. I'll give you your potions after you eat breakfast. You still have that cold. Unfortunately at this point you will just have to wait it out. My magic can only do so much and the pepper up can't be taken with your other potions. I did what I could for your throat, how does it feel?"

"Better I think, less sore. Thank you."

"Yes, yes." He waved the boy off. "If you do get up you need to rest frequently. Don't over exert yourself, and let me or one of the others know if you start to feel bad. Try and stay off your left leg. I would like to cut your hair if you're up to it, and you need to shower."

"Cut my hair?" Harry blinked at him and touched the black locks.

"Correct. I won't take it all off like I did for Dudley, but I can give it a better style. Your hair is too curly for that cut, it's likely always that messy."

"It is. My hair isn't curly though."

"Trust me little bit. It'll look fine."

"If you say so."

The Prince looked at him sternly and opened his mouth to talk when there was a loud knocking at the door.

"Come in!"

"Breakfast, Ree." Benny called cheerfully as he brought in a lap desk topped with food. "The Prince went shopping and got us stuff but D-man broke the pancakes. So you got fruit, cereal, toast, jelly, more fruit, vitamins, some kinda yogurt thing, a banana-"

"His eyes still work, just give him the tray." Prince snapped turning from the loud boy. "Eat what you can and then take your medicine. Call me if you need me, I will be just down the hall."

"I'll be fine."

"I'm sure you will be, all the same, call if you need me."

XXXxxx

Harry lingered in the shower for a full hour. He felt half guilty for it but couldn't bring himself to leave the hot spray when they insisted he take his time. _If I take too long they will bang on the door. This is nice. _The steam from the shower felt great for his stuffiness. It was heaven.

He stumbled out when the water started to cool and wrapped himself in a towel. Avoiding the mirror he found the flannel pajama set he laid out and tugged them on. Finally ready and half nervous he stepped out of the foggy bathroom.

Malfoy-The Prince- was just leaving his own room, and they nearly ran into each other. The older boy looked him up and down before nodding and gesturing towards the living room. Harry blinked and reluctantly followed.

Dudley cooed over him and hustled him into a chair as soon as he entered. _I guess that means they're not mad. This is so confusing. I suppose they did say they wanted me to relax. Showering is relaxing. _Satisfied that he now understood the odd behavior, Harry allowed himself to snuggle into the chair.

"So kid," The Prince drawled lazily "Ready for your make over, part one?"

"Now? I mean, sure. What do I do?" Harry fought back his alarm and chewed on his bottom lip.

"Not a thing. Your cousin will set up a chair for you in the kitchen; you just sit and let me do the work."

Harry sighed but got up from the comfortable chair and limped to the kitchen after his cousin. He obediently sat in the padded chair and even managed to not flinch as Dudley slipped a trash bag over his head, tugging at the hole in the bottom to avoid rubbing at his throat.

"Are you going to be okay?" a low voice asked from behind him. "We can do this without the bag, but it will be messier. Can you handle it?"

"I'm-m fine." Harry breathed out, making himself un-tense. "This is okay."

"Are you sure?" grey eyes pierced green.

"Yes," Harry nodded, and a moment later the Prince nodded back.

"Now as I said before, your hair is naturally curly so the trick is to cut it so the waves fall right, instead of sticking up all over. Your hair will have a spiky, uneven layered style instead of being perpetually messy." He kept up a low, soothing chatter as he snipped at the raven hair.

XXXxxx

The prince brushed the plastic bag with a hand broom, and then swept around the chair. Harry fidgeted while waiting. Finally satisfied, he took a pair of scissors and cut the wizardling out of the plastic.

"We'll dye it later, but it looks much better. When was the last time you updated your prescription?"

"Huh?"

"Your glasses, when's the last time you checked your eyes?"

"Mmm…Late primary school. I think I was eight?" Harry tipped his head sideways in thought.

"Eight?" he questioned in a low growl.

Harry's head shot up and he nodded hesitantly, his eyes wide and innocent.

"I shouldn't be surprised." Harry flinched at his soft tone. "Not your fault wizardling. It should have been more recent is all. I will make an appointment."

"For my eyes? Why? My glasses still work. I haven't broken them."

"Yes but we can probably find a pair that work better for your eyes, and stand out less. Plus, I'd like you to try contacts." He explained calmly.

"Contacts? Aunt Petunia said those are expensive. I don't need-"

"I'm not spending my own money; remember Benny's father is footing the bill. Besides that, contacts cost about the same as glasses."

"Well my glasses still work just fine-"

"I doubt it. I think you'll be surprised at the difference."

"I hardly need…"

"Hush wizardling. Are you upset because you don't want to wear contacts or because you don't need them?"

"…What? Isn't it the same?" he frowned.

"There is a big difference between want and need. You **want** to play dice, you **need** to eat. Your glasses are distinctive; I need to get you a new pair anyways if you are planning to ever leave this place. It would be no trouble to get you contacts at that time. It is a matter of **preference.** If you don't like the idea of poking at your eyes, or have any other reason, we can simply get you different frames. It is my job to protect and hide you; this is part of the job." The Prince spoke in a serious tone, and looked over the younger boy carefully.

"Oh." Harry looked baffled and uneasy.

"Think about it. Let me know if you want to stick with glasses or try contacts. There's no rush right now." He looked over the teen again. "Why don't you check out your new style, and enjoy your freedom a bit?"

XXXxxx

Harry stared at his reflection for several minutes, running his fingers through raven locks. His hair was… neat. It was spiky and layered like he was promised, but it wasn't out of control. It lay almost flat, and where it didn't it looked more styled than uncombed. His bangs were his favorite though. They had a funny angle cut, so one side of his face was uncovered and the other side was fringed and covered his scar. _I wonder how Prince plans to dye it. I hope he doesn't make me a blond! _Harry shuddered at the thought. _I look so different already._

He let his gaze drop for a moment to the purple green bruises at his throat before looking away and leaving the bathroom. He hovered in the doorway for a moment contemplating his choices. He felt stuffy again, and didn't really want to have a coughing fit in front of the others. He could go back to his own room or try the living room with the other three guys. He chewed on his lip as he walked around the corner towards the living room.

"Hey kiddo!" Benny greeted loudly, grinning.

"Harry! Come sit." Dudley was significantly quieter as he greeted his cousin. "Love the look. I can't believe he got your hair to work."

"_He_ is still in the room, thank you." The Prince watched him for a minute. "You should sit; I don't want you to stress your knee."

Harry nodded and moved closer to sit in the soft chair he'd tried earlier. The guys settled to watch the football game again, and Dudley made a noise of distress as he realized he missed someone score. Harry looked over his cousin. He didn't look that much different. Two days before he'd been shocked when the older boy came in to show off his buzz cut. The loss of dirty blond curls somehow made him look older, or tougher. Even so, Harry didn't think the change was very drastic. Anyone who knew him could easily pick him out. _Hm...But Prince did mention something about tattoos. I wonder what else is going to change. _

_._

_._

_._

A/N: Sorry about the shortness. I got stuck here and kept trying to write more before I posted. I decided to just give this to you. As a bonus I will give you reviewers some options. Next chapter I can…

I can skip to their first outing. This would be after Harry gets his new eyewear. A bit of cloths shopping, some anxiety, sunshine etc.

I can do a bit of back story with Scorpius and the Malfoys.

I can do more stuck-in-the-apartment/healing harry character interactions between our four boys.

**Let me know in a review soon, so I can get the next chapter out!**


	7. On the Town

**Disclaimer: I don't own this.**

**Chapter 6. On the town**

"You need to get some sleep wizardling." The Prince murmured from the doorway "It's way past midnight and you're still healing. You need rest, we do this every night."

"I'm fine!" Harry protested weakly, dreading sleep. "The book is nearly finished"

"You started that one after dinner, you're not even half-way through."

"But I can't sleep until it's finished." Harry looked up through his eyelashes clinging to the book nervously.

"Here, I'll read it to you. How's that?" he crossed the room in swift steps and settled into the chair by the bed, once again reminding Harry of a large feline. He tugged the book until the teen released it. "Another romance?"

"Well you haven't gotten me any other books yet," he muttered, blushing. "I'm too old for bedtime stories; I can read it to myself."

"Shush. You are supposed to be trying to sleep. Now where are you…?

"_**Insert dirty romance scene**_

"Seriously?" the Prince choked as he skimmed the next page. "You're too young for this stuff." He felt oddly posses-protective of the little wizarding. "I'm gonna hafta censor your reading materials."

"What! I'm fifteen! I hear worse at school. Gimme that back." He was blushing bright red. "Besides, I'm not there yet, I'm on the other page."

"Shush. – No; stop trying to grab your book and lay down." He picked up at the top of the previous page reading aloud. He had Harry settled until he reached the next page, "And then that hussy started day dreaming about someone she barely knows."

"Malfoy!"

XXXxxx

_4 days after haircut, week 3 of the summer_

"Are you sure about this? I can stay home. It's okay." Harry chewed on his bottom lip staring at the door.

"You would be safer with me either way. We need to get out of this apartment; yesterday was insane. The boys have cabin fever and you are looking too pale. This will be perfectly fine. You look completely different." The Prince reassured him. _I'm always making speeches for the wizardling. This can't be good for my health._

Harry toyed with his glasses. "I didn't get contacts."

"Still, those frames are completely different. Trust me, this is what I do."

Indeed, he was thrilled at how the green-eyed teen turned out. He wore thin silver frames with a rectangle shape that brought out his eyes. _Much better than that bulky plastic monstrosity. _His hair had been dyed 'calico' with patches of dirty blond and auburn mixed with his natural raven. _He looks good. I did not just think that. He looks good in an artistic sense. _For this outing he'd dressed the wizardling in a pair of loose black jeans and a green t-shirt with a dragon motif. He had to guess at the sizes, and hadn't done too badly; the black sneakers were a little loose, but Harry had assured him that Dudley's cast-offs were larger.

"Well if you're sure. You promised right?" the tiny voice broke his train of thought.

"Yes," he murmured recalling his oath, "I certainly did. You will be fine. I won't let anyone harm you wizardling." He ran his fingers gently through the younger boy's hair. "Besides, you want a new book don't you?"

"Yes!" Harry perked up immediately.

"Let's GO guys!" Dudley shouted through the bedroom door. "How long are you going to take?"

The Prince snapped open the door. "If you can't behave, maybe I should leave you here."

"No! No, I'll be good. I was just…" Dudley sputtered, going red at Benny's laughter.

"Good. Let's go." He tossed on a leather jacket, and passed a black coat to Harry. "You stay within my line of sight. No wandering off. No attracting attention. If I say we go you do not complain. If I tell you to do something you do it fast. If you disobey we go home, and you don't get a second chance. Understood?"

"Yes sir." They chorused together.

XXXxxx

Getting Harry to relax was worse than trying to get his cousin to calm down. The heavy weight teen wandered from shop to shop with greedy eyes and an eager expression while the smaller boy clung to the Prince's hand and jumped at shadows.

"Christopher!" Prince snapped Dudley's codename. "If you keep wandering off we are going to leave!"

"Don't be like that. I was just-"

"Do we need to leave?" He expertly ignored Harry's nodding head as he glared.

"I'll behave."

"Good. Ree and I need to visit the bookstore next so you have five more minutes."

Harry clung to him silently, chewing on his lip. The Prince sighed and pulled him closer running fingers through the multi-colored hair. The wizardling held very still at the touch, and the Prince wondered if he was afraid of being hit or of losing the comforting touch if he moved. _I wonder if he knows for that matter._

"Come on Ree, they're off again." The other boys had wandered out of the store to a display of animals in a shop window.

"Look Benny! A monkey!"

The Prince nearly snapped at them again but he saw the wizardling perk up. He silently nodded permission and followed the boys into the shop.

"Hello, can I help you?" a nervous-looking shop owner intercepted Dudley.

"I wanted to see the monkey."

"Yes, well. You are more than welcome to look but this shop reserves the right to refuse to sell. Most of my animals are exotics or trained for specific tasks."

"You mean they do tricks! Cool!" Dudley knocked past the man to view the cage.

"Please forgive my brothers. They can be quite – obnoxious at times." Prince murmured to the shop owner as Harry released his hand to stroke the cat that appeared between his legs. "What kind of animals do you keep?"

"As I said: exotics. I also have several service animals: two Seeing Eye dogs, a companion animal that makes noise at seizures, one trained cat that will fetch things off high shelves. Others that are just well house trained." His eyes also followed the younger boy. "Of course, I have several protection animals as well."

"We don't need an attack dog." Prince interrupted.

"You misunderstand me. Yes I have attack dogs, but protection animals are different. They are trained to alert someone if something is amiss with their charge. They are usually given to young children with health problems. Kiki was trained for panic attacks. I was training her for a friend, but their son grew out of the attacks."

"Kiki?"

"Your little brother's new friend. What happened, if I may ask?"

"He was hurt badly- for a long time. He's only my half-brother."

The man nodded. "He's so young. … Kiki would take care of him; cats are good for emotional trauma in any case."

"How much?"

XXXxxx

Prince sat Dudley and Benny in the little cafe connected to the bookstore with the cloth cat bag and their other purchases of the day. The two boys were easily appeased with large caffeinated beverages and baked sweets, and they swore they would not leave the table.

Harry was delightedly looking around at the shelves, seeming to not know where to start. Prince led him to the fiction section and glanced at him. "I like the fantasy and sci-fi books myself, it's fun to see what muggles come up with and it gives me ideas to try. Do you have a preference?"

"Not really. I haven't done much reading for fun. Aunt Petunia sais-" he cut off that comment looking down uncomfortably. "Sci-Fi is fine."

He squeezed the younger boy's hand and silently led him to the shelves. He browsed the shelves, careful not to linger too long in one place, as Harry once again refused to release him. The wizardling seemed reluctant to touch the books at first, but soon he was sifting through titles and reading the backs of anything that caught his eye. It was half an hour later when Harry stumbled on a series he liked- or seemed to like, he hovered over them for a long while.

"The Dresden Files are great. You like those?" the Prince quickly looked over the titles.

"Mmm, yeah. This sounds good. Can I get this one?" Harry peered through his fringe nervously.

He snorted, "You can get that one and the other six they have here. You read through books like candy. These won't last you more than a week and a half, maybe two. "

"I don't mean to be a bother," Harry murmured, but his eyes were shining excitedly "you already bought me Kiki."

"Don't be silly wizardling. Let's get these and go before Christopher does something stupid." He piled the books into Harry's hands and led him to the front. They were standing in line when he caught the teen staring at a display. "See something else?"

"No." Harry quickly turned away blushing.

"Don't lie." He reprimanded gently. "What's there? You can have another if you'd like."

Harry looked at him for a long time, biting his lip. He nodded once and scooted over to the tower of books, glancing back every few steps. He pulled one book to his chest and hurried back. He didn't show Prince the book, instead holding it to him until the cashier called for them.

The Prince sat the stack of books he held on the counter and let Harry place his there as well. He choked on air then fought back a laugh as he realized what it was: a romance novel. He kept his expression neutral knowing the wizardling was watching and paid for the books.

XXxx

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Okay, I am sorry for the delay. If I ever give y'all choices like that again slap me. I got myself in a block because I promised I'd write a certain topic. I'll try to be a better updater. I know I hate it when the stories I like make me wait.


	8. In which we skip ch 7

**Disclaimer: not mine.**

Chapter 8. In which we skip over 7 all together so my numbers match.

Harry was curled up on "his" bed in the blue room, reading. His hair was still damp from the shower he'd taken after dinner, but he barely noticed as he was absorbed in his book. He knew he should be going to bed, but he didn't want to sleep.

"We had a deal wizardling." Prince appeared as if reading his mind. "You agreed to listen to my orders if I didn't take you to the hospital."

"I am listening!" Harry panicked; he didn't trust hospitals to be safe. "What haven't I listened?"

"Your body needs sleep. We do this every night. You've been here a week and a half now, almost three full weeks. You need to go to sleep."

Harry slid down in the bed. He knew the Prince was angry and upset that he wasn't listening, and Harry was trying to be good. "I'm trying. I don't like to sleep." Harry practically whispered his protest.

The Prince stalked towards him until he stood over the bed. Harry sunk lower. Callused hands gripped his chin and forced him to meet blue eyes. Harry couldn't feel the anger anymore and hoped that was a good sign.

"Why don't you like to sleep little wizardling?" he questioned in a soft purr that Harry found reassuring.

"I- I just don't" he stuttered.

"Not good enough." The Prince reprimanded in that same gentle tone. One hand began to stroke his calico hair and Harry leaned slightly into the touch.

"I just don't like seeing the things in my dreams." Harry blushed and closed his eyes so he didn't have to meet Prince's gaze.

"None of that. There is nothing to be ashamed of. You have nightmares?" when harry managed a nod he went on, "tell me. Your uncle?

"Sometimes, mostly not."

"Tell me." The hand released his chin, but the other stayed tangled in his hair. Harry leaned against the other's side chewing on his lip as he debated internally.

"Mostly it's Voldemort. I can get in his head. I see things. He kills and, and tortures people. Kids and parents and anyone, he doesn't care, he likes it. I…he can give me dreams. They look real but sometimes they're not. I can't tell. I used to tell Dumbledore when I dreamed, because he could go fight, or send help or something, but he told me to stop. The trick dreams were t-traps mostly. It's awful. I can't block it out and it's too much!" Harry sobbed, curling against the older boy. "Sometimes it's just nightmares about other nightmares.

"I-I can't sleep. All I see is blood and death and people screaming and begging and green light and blood and kids crying and _them _laughing! I can't help anyone, and I can't do anything, and I can't _make it all __**stop!**_"

The Prince held the younger boy rocking him gently and baking soothing sounds.

XXXxxx

"Hush Little One. It's alright" he tried again when Harry seemed calmer. He felt stiff and knew they'd been sitting in the same position for too long. "Better?"

"Not really." Harry responded in a quiet voice.

Nodding at this he shifted fully onto the bed and lifted the smaller boy to his lap. "You're more coherent at least. Want to talk about it?"

"N-not r-really. I don't like to…" Harry buried his face into his shirt.

"That's fine, that's fine. No need to fret. We don't need to talk about the dreams. Do you know how these dreams work though? Maybe I can make them stop."

"No," Harry was shaking his head already "you can't stop them Dumbledore already tried. Sleeping potions make it worse. He said I needed to learn occlumency, but I am really no good at it."

"My magic is a bit different, remember? Maybe I can do something." He frowned at Harry's account. "Did he really try to teach you occlumency? That doesn't make sense. If that was it surly he could have set shields…"

"What?" Harry looked startled.

"Perhaps I am wrong. Tell me, do you know how these dreams work?"

"A bit. We're connected through this." He tapped his scar "So I can see in his head as if I were him. I don't know…"

"It's like a movie then? You can see and hear what is going on?"

"Sort of. I can feel things too. His feelings, it's like I'm feeling them, not like echoes, more like they're my own."

"'Not like echoes' why would you feel echoes of his feelings, why phrase it like that?" He caught the unusual interjection curiously. _Did someone tell him it should be like that or is he…Damn._

Harry fidgeted with his blanket a moment. "I'm not supposed to tell."

"Please tell me Ree. I promise not to get mad." His heart sank as he watched the wizardling fidget a moment longer.

"That's- that's how I feel other people. It – I can–" Harry made a small whimpering noise and pulled the blanket over his head so that he was bundled tightly against The Prince's chest.

"Do you feel other people's emotions?" he asked quietly.

The blanket bundle bobbed a nod.

"Mine?"

Another bob from the blanket.

"What am I feeling now Wizardling?"

The blankets rustled and a muffled voice answered, "You feel… Like Hermione before a test, only a little different…Excited maybe, Hermione likes tests." Harry sounded puzzled, and his heart dropped further. "Only you also feel like Ron when he lets Hermione check his homework and he doesn't get excited about that… You feel more like Ron though, now."

"That's good Harry. I admit I am feeling anxious, and a bit worried, do you think that's maybe what you feel?"

Harry's head popped up and he sat back thinking. Slowly he nodded. "That could be. I never thought that could be it. Anxious and worried." Harry beamed at him as if he'd solved a difficult puzzle for the wizardling.

_Perhaps I have. _"Do you have trouble figuring out emotions, wizardling?" he knew very little about empaths but he thought they were good at identifying emotions.

"Sometimes. People pretend different than what they feel. Some are easy, others I don't have names for."

"Like what?"

"Anger is easy. I can tell if it's really angry, mad, furious, livid, or just irate. Sad is harder to tell the names for. I can tell that it's sad but I don't know the names for the different kinds of sad, you know?" Harry looked at him shyly and he nodded with an encouraging smile. "I know hurt, feelin' hurt is all the same feeling just stronger or not."

"The same feeling, I don't understand how that's different from anger. Wouldn't that all be the same feeling?"

"No. Not the same. It's like…like, um, colors. You can have red and crimson and scarlet and cherry and burgundy and more, it's the same but definitely different. It _feels _different. You can be a lot mad without being angry or livid. Pain is different, you hurt or you don't the levels are different but it's the same feeling all the time…"

"Hmm… Go on what's one you don't understand."

"I…that's harder. Um… I can't really tell the differences between Happy. When people are happy they all say they are happy, or having a good day. I don't really know the words…There are almost as many Happys as Angrys… Why are you sad now?"

"Distressed." He clarified the emotion. "I am distressed that you have known so much anger, and have such little understanding of happiness."

Harry flushed, and looked ready to deny that but kept quiet. "It's also a lot because people aren't so good at naming their feelings right. It makes things confusing."

"I understand wizardling. Who else knows about this?"

"No one! … Sorry. Uncle Vernon said not to… that it was bad, and I didn't mean to, I just wanted to be good. I wasn't sure…" Harry bit his lip, but didn't look away or curl up again.

"It's not bad wizardling. Empaths are rare but special in the wizarding world. I need to do more research, but this could be very good." He smiled as Harry beamed at him again. "It also explains why you can't do well at occlumency. As an empath you naturally open your mind more than the average person, an empath's shields are different than most other mental blocks.

"I am going to give you a dream-catcher I have. It is made of unicorn hair and holly, weaved under a full moon. It may be enough to stop your dreams. It will definitely stop your regular nightmares, if it doesn't help your magical ones. Would you like me to stay the night?"

Harry looked distressed that he hadn't been sidetracked completely. "If you don't mind, I'd like that."

"Let me get my things and change. I'll be back in just a moment. Don't you dare start that book again." He kept his emotions light and smiled to show he wasn't threatening, and then slipped out of the room.

Tomorrow he would need to begin research on empaths, laws and dream magic, until then he would keep an eye on the wizardling. He could think about the darker implications of abuse on an empath tomorrow as well.

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A/N Just a shorty so I stay on this. Hope you like it. Review and tell me why/why not. I love your input!


	9. Glimpses

**Disclaimer: I don't own this.**

**Dedicated to The Ruby Red Raven who asked a good question!**

Chapter 9: Dumbledore and Dementors.

The Order of the Phoenix gathered in Number 12 grumbling quietly about the late hour and exchanging worried glances. The witches and wizards found seats around the table and whispered thanks to Molly Weasley when she presented a tray of tea and biscuits. Dumbledore arrived shortly after that and quickly set up privacy and silencing wards.

"Let the meeting begin. First of all I'd like reports, Kingsley?" Dumbledore turned to the man on his left before taking his seat.

"I am sorry Albus, I have nothing to report."

"But it's been three weeks! Harry can't have just disappeared! What is the ministry doing!?"

"Hush Molly," Arthur interrupted.

"I am sorry. The ministry is still sending out search teams. He didn't use wizarding transport, and he didn't take muggle public transport either. We have notices all over the muggle news and our own. We are trying! We just aren't finding him." The Auror sat abruptly refusing to comment further."

"Fletcher?" Albus questioned.

"Word on the street is people are scared. Our savior is missing, kidnapped; they are frightened that the war will never end. There is a huge price on his head in the Underground, wizard-side for the kid: 30,000 galleons. What's more remarkable though is that the Lords have stayed out of it all together."

"The Lords," Tonks asked scornfully, "who are they?"

"Yes the Lords. They are the crime Lords. Rulers of the Underworld. They control the black market and most any other illegal enterprise out there. I am not really at liberty to say more than that."

"I thought they were a myth." Tonks blinked, stunned.

"No matter. We need to focus on the matter at hand." Dumbledore interjected. "Tonks?"

"Sorry Headmaster, I haven't heard anything except that none of Dudley's friends believe the kidnapping story. They don't say it out loud but they are upset about the accusation. They had to have some idea that Dudley was going to run away. I don't understand it. According to the other neighborhood kids he was very spoiled. No one knows anything about Harry really. It's all gossip. I don't think I will find anything else at Little Whinging."

"We'll talk about reassignment later. Molly, Arthur?"

"No Albus. Harry hasn't tried to make any contact with Ron or Ginny."

"He hasn't contacted the Granger girl either."

"Severus?"

"The Dark Lord continues to search as well. He has not yet found the boy. He has been anxious though, one minute pleased the next furious. He believes the boy may be dead, but he wants proof. Apparently he has been unable to give the boy dreams for several days…. Headmaster, I doubt very much he has learned and mastered occlumency in such short time. He was impossible as a student. If he is not dead his mind may be in a dangerous state. You need find him soon or he may not be recoverable." Severus sat.

"What does that mean?"

"You can't just leave it like that."

"Explain yourself!"

"Is he dead then?"

"What-"

"ORDER!" Albus Dumbledore shot sparks in the air. "Calm down this instant. I have reason to believe young Harry is not dead. However, Severus is right in that we must continue to search as quickly as we can. We _must _find him soon."

XXXxxx

Harry hummed as he set the breakfast table. Kiki wove between his legs and he squatted to pet her. The cat rubbed itself against his hand and purred. Harry smiled.

"You're in a cheerful mood this morning wizardling." The Prince leaned against the doorway already dressed in black slacks and a grey t-shirt.

"Prince!" Harry spun smiling. He fell on his bottom and blinked before grinning and standing fully. He rushed over and hugged the startled blond. "I didn't dream at all last night! Not visions or fakes or even regular nightmares! I slept a whole six hours straight!"

"Congratulations Ree." Prince smiled back even as he inwardly cringed at the thought those six hours of peaceful sleep was the cause of celebration.

"You're sad." Harry lost some of his smile looking up with big eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"No Little One. I am just upset that you have had such bad dreams in the past. I truly am happy for you." He ruffled the multi colored hair while focusing on his relief and happiness.

"Oh, okay." Harry studied the other boy a moment longer before smiling again and moving back into the kitchen. "I made crapes!"

It had been nearly a week since the night Harry had confessed about his abilities, and the younger boy had gradually opened up to him. Prince had convinced him to work on reading emotions and they often sat together talking about emotions and working on shielding.

He had found a book written by an empath and it described shielding technique. Prince didn't understand pieces of it, but Harry seemed to understand it fairly well. The younger boy still struggled with it though, and the book described how it could take years to develop good shields. The book also talked about anchors, a subject Prince was reluctant to explain to the empath.

"Are you coming?"

Prince laughed at the pout in the voice and stalked into the kitchen.

XXXxxx

Dudley Dursley watched his cousin move easily around the kitchen. After much argument and frustration, Harry had confessed to enjoying cooking. After this tentative proclamation six days ago the other boys agreed to let him do the cooking with the understanding that they would clean up. The Prince guy was especially careful to keep track of how much housework Ree was doing and balance it. The blond had called them out more than once when the two teens had left messes that the younger boy took care of.

Dudley was trying to help. Ree was actually an adorable kid. He was shy and skittish around him most of the time but Dudley had seen how he interacts with the Prince. Like now Ree would smile and chatter quietly, glancing up frequently for approval. Harry's bruises had faded except for the ring around his throat, and he no longer limped, but the boy was still so fragile…

Dudley was good at noticing weaknesses. It made him a rather effective bully, a fact he wasn't proud of, but it was also what had gotten him on the wrestling team to begin with. He could see that Harry still held himself carefully, that he gasped or winced if he bent wrong or bumped into something. He remembered Prince's original warnings about a broken collarbone and cracked ribs. He worried over his little cousin and realized he was developing quite a protective streak for the boy he'd hurt so badly in the past. _I should have protected him from the start. He's really so __**innocent **__it's amazing I didn't notice sooner…_

He knew Ree beamed every time one of them complemented the other boy or fussed over him. The younger boy was slowly loosing that look of baffled confusion that appeared when they took over the cleaning or insisted he rest or even just asked him what he wanted to watch on the TV. It was heart-wrenching to realize how unused to positive attention Ree was.

Dudley remembered clearly the wakeup call he'd had the previous summer. He'd been taunting his cousin to the point where the other boy had drawn his wand and threatened him. He wasn't too clear on the details after that but one minute he was blustering and the next he was freezing cold.

_It was dark all around him. He shivered in the cold. He felt miserable, like he'd never be happy again. Slowly, in the background he could hear himself whimpering piteously and yelling at the freak to stop, but he was focused on a memory. _

_Dudley was young maybe six or seven and he wanted a snack. It was nighttime and he was supposed to be sleeping so he snuck down the stairs to raid the kitchen for pudding. He was surprised to hear noises in the living room. He snuck down the hall and peaked in cautiously. _

_His father was standing in the middle of the room, his face a furious purple as he ranted in a low voice. The freak was curled on the rug sobbing silently and holding a bloody nose. As he watched his father raised a fist and swung it at the brunette. The freak was stupid and didn't even try to dodge. Dudley watched in morbid fascination as the other boy tumbled a few feet from the force of the blow. He'd never pushed the freak that hard. He entered the room forgetting his sneaking to see if his dad had made the boy bleed more. He saw the brunette's green eyes widen as he got close._

"_W'ad you do this time freak?" he asked curiously._

_He looked up at his father for answers and was shocked when a sudden blow knocked him over. It hurt terribly and he screamed for his mother. His father's face went from purple to white and he turned and lashed out at the freak again. Dudley screamed louder honestly frightened his father would turn on him again as the man continued to rain blows on the still form next to him._

_Dudley wet himself as he watched his father's face go purple again and he started shouting over Dudley's cries. Dudley's mom ran into the room and began shouting at his dad as she pulled Dudley out of harm's way._

_Dudley came back to himself slowly. His cousin was hauling him back home. Dudley shivered. He couldn't remember his father __**ever**__ hitting him like that. It had to be a freak trick. Still, he had no problems believing that the freak could have been hurt like that, and that thought bothered him. They were only little kids after all, surely his father would never…._

That had been a turning point. When it had been explained to him that he'd been faced with his worse memory, and that what he'd seen was real he'd had to face several facts. Thankfully his cousin was gone for the rest of the summer. Dudley had taken a long time to accept the fact that his father had ever hit him, and that all the yelling and terror of that night was real and he'd repressed it. All the while he couldn't get his mind around the crying, bloody form of his cousin who his memory-Mum made no effort to protect. It had taken a lot of thinking and nightmares before Dudley was willing to think about abuse.

Dudley looked up from his thoughts as Ree cheerfully called for him and Benny to get their crapes.

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A/N Please review! I know this is short, but I thought you'd like it. I'll try to post again soon. Any questions?


	10. Anchors

**Chapter 10 Anchors**

Harry was curled up on the big chair in the living room petting Kiki nervously. He chewed his lip anxiously and glanced around the room for the dozenth time in two minutes. Prince was out running errands. He did this occasionally, but so far it had been at night while Harry was sleeping. This was the first time Prince had really left him alone and aware of it.

"Where is he Kiki?" he muttered nuzzling her fur.

"Hey Ree, relax. Prince will be back soon, I promise. Nothing is going to happen to us. We're safe here. … You know he wouldn't leave if there was any danger." Dudley startled him as he walked into the room with Benny.

"Yeah Little Bit. Ya know Prince is fuckin' brilliant at what he does. You just need to let him do his thing." Benny smiled and winked. "Let's watch a movie!"

Harry clung to Kiki as the cat purred reassuringly and managed to nod at the boys. He didn't pay any attention to the movie as it played and instead worked to curl himself into as close of a ball as his injuries would allow.

When the front door opened twenty minutes later, Harry bolted upright completely focused on the entering person. He relaxed as soon as he registered the platinum hair. Prince met his eyes and smiled briefly.

"How has your morning been?"

"Fine" Harry replied automatically before blushing.

"Reverting already? I've only been gone for two hours!" Prince spoke in a joking voice, but Harry could feel the waves of concern and reassuring feelings rolling off the older boy.

Harry fought internally for a moment before scooting out of the chair and moving over to wrap his arms around the other. He felt his anxiety slipping away as he reveled in the concern and reassurance offered. He vaguely heard Dudley and Benny speaking as he felt the spike of surprise and worry in the blond. He felt no anger so allowed himself a moment to relax, smiling as Prince smoothed his hair.

XXXxxx

Prince was shocked when Harry latched on to him. So far the younger boy had never initiated any type of physical contact. He wrapped one arm around Harry before turning his eyes to Dudley for an explanation.

"He's been anxious all morning. We had to drag him out of the kitchen to stop him from cleaning, and then make him promise not to keep cleaning out here. He finally settled in that chair with his cat and hasn't moved since."

"Yeah man. He's been all jumpy like and kept looking for you and watchin the doors an windows an stuff. Real nervous like. We told him it'd be fine, but he just kept on. I got him to watch a movie finally."

Prince stroked calico hair as he thought. This wasn't a bad thing, it fit nicely with his current plan, and he had to admit a small part of him relished in the younger boy's attachment. _I have to admit no such thing. Damn internal monologue. _He murmured a thanks to the other boys and pulled gently away from Harry's grip.

"Hey Ree. Let's go to your room. You look exhausted. I got you a present…"

"Really?" he tipped his head to the side and obediently followed behind the blond.

Prince ushered the smaller boy into the room and tucked him into bed propped up with pillows. When Harry was settled and Prince had finished fussing. The blond pulled out a small package from his backpack.

"I realize your birthday isn't for another three days, but considering everything, I think you can open this a bit early."

"You didn't have to… How'd you know? You shouldn't have."

"Just open it!" Prince laughed at the awestruck expression on his face.

Harry pealed at the tape keeping the small cardboard box closed and opened it. He gasped. Sitting in the white paper was a miniature of the dream-catcher he had. He pulled it carefully out examining it.

"It was made by the same friend who made me the first. It's holly from the same tree and hair from the same unicorn. The only real difference is the feathers. Mine is made with dove feathers but Iris said this is made with phoenix down. I know you like to keep it near, so I had one made that you can wear." Prince gently took the catcher from the stunned teen and clasped it around his neck so that it hung just loose enough around his throat to not choke him. Prince stroked his multi colored hair as Harry babbled his thanks. "It has a special layer of protection so that you don't need to worry about breaking it."

"I thought adding magic to one of these could make it work funny." Green eyes peered up at him as Harry fingered his gift.

"_Adding _magic to a magical item _will_ lower its potency, but this was designed with the protection integrated into the spell work."

"Oh. Thank you, thank you thank you thank you!" Harry beamed, his cheeks flushed.

"You're welcome. Rest a bit. I know you had a rough morning. We can talk more when you wake up." He readjusted the pillows ignoring the weak protests and tucked Harry in more securely.

As Harry settled into a reluctant rest, Prince watched him and slowly resumed stroking his hair. He looked so vulnerable in his sleep Prince just wanted to cuddle- _no I do not do CUDDLING! _

XXXxxx

Prince put down his laptop as Ree began to stir. He watched the younger boy blink groggily at nothing before green eyes darted around the room taking in the surroundings. "Morning Little One. Did you sleep well?"

"Very. How long..?"

"You were only out for two hours it isn't even time for lunch yet. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I don't know why I was so anxious with you gone. I mean I trust your security and all, I just freaked out." The younger boy ran fingers through his hair and nibbled at his lip.

"I want you to be completely honest with me Ree, and I want you to really think before you answer this, okay?" Prince waited for a nod before continuing. "I want to know if you were just nervous about being left alone and worried about security, or if you were feeling something else." He watched as the wizardling frowned and absorbed his words, they both sat silent for a moment.

"…I don't really know. I just felt stressed and tense after you left. The whole building felt different without you there. It was like I couldn't breathe properly, but I was breathing just fine. It wasn't like I had a panic attack or anything, I wasn't gasping for breath, I just…" the teen struggled for words "it was like my chest hurt and I couldn't do things properly. Everything was foggy, but not. I don't know; it was weird."

"That's good Ree, relax." Prince cut him off with concern as Harry became increasingly distressed. "I expected something like that after your greeting. Tell me, have you read anything about anchors?"

"Not really. I remember that word from the journal you got me. It said that choosing an anchor was even more complicated than setting mental shields. I remember reading that part and wondering about it. See the writer couldn't visit another empath because that empath was young and hadn't chosen an anchor yet and two empaths in one place would be a big target even if they were both anchored, so they became pen-pals, or at least they sent each other owls a lot. I meant to ask you about that. Why would an empath be a target? What kind of target and who was targeting them? Why would anyone care so much? What is an anchor any why does it make such a difference?"

"Slow down Little One. Let's stick to anchors right now and we'll see about your other questions you have later. Okay?

"Now I know I've said this before, but I am no expert on empaths; I have never needed to study empaths before, and I am learning just like you are. That said, what I did know about empaths before I met you came from studying wizard law. One law in particular stood out to me enough to be remembered in that it actually predated Merlin. Most law was reworked during his time, or after, if you didn't know. But this particular law was written before Merlin, yet carried an affirmation by him. That is, Merlin himself had the law passed a second time in its original form with absolutely no changes. This was one of only two laws that ever happened to.

"This law is about empaths and their anchors. When an empath chooses an anchor and binds themselves to that person through blood and magic, that anchor can never be forced to separate from the empath for any reason be it marriage, family, politics, even other laws. The bond between an empath and a bound anchor is for all intents and purposes sacred and unbreakable."

"Wow. So an anchor is a person?" the other grasped on to the most relevant piece of information. "What do they do? Why are they so important?"

"I'm getting there." Prince smiled. "From what I understand, an empath uses an anchor to provide a buffer between themselves and other people's emotions by focusing in on their anchor's emotions. This is when an empath is young and not used to shielding. A bonded anchor does more than that. I don't understand it all, but somehow an anchor helps control their empath's magic and improves health. An anchor's key duty is to protect their empath and take care of their needs."

"Kinda like you do for me." Harry interjected in a joking tone. Prince watched as the teen's green eyes widened and knew it was clicking in his head.

"Kind of exactly like that. I was worried when I first read about the description, but I didn't think you were that attached to me. I was reading while you slept and I can see why it happened. It is natural for empaths to seek out anchors. That is no doubt how you survived Hogwarts and being surrounded by so many people. You probably latched on to somebody instinctively and used them as an anchor, probably one of your friends, someone you spend a lot of time with."

"Ron, or Hermione. But I thought empaths had only one anchor?"

"One _bonded _anchor. There is a magic rite that must be performed for that. After an empath is bonded they don't have un-bonded anchors, but you aren't bonded…I do want you to consider it though. I have become rather fond of you in the past three weeks and I am reluctant to let you go without making sure you are safe. As your anchor, nobody could stop me from coming with you to Hogwarts or even sitting in on your classes." He held up his hand as Harry moved to speak. "We won't make any decisions now. This is a big commitment and not one to rush in to. I want to find out more details about this ritual and what the bonding means really. At any rate, even if this is something we decide to do we will wait until the last possible moment to perform it. You have another month of summer to consider this while we look for more information.

"And before you even start to think it, I will go to Hogwarts with you either way. It may not be as easy, but there are other options I still have open to me. You will be protected."

"I…um…this is a lot. Thank you." Big green eyes studied him for a long time.

"I- I have a book coming that should explain more. It was hell trying to cover my tracks or I could have gotten it here much sooner."

"Why are you covering _your _tracks? Do you think-"

"No" Prince cut him off. "Honestly Ree. I promised that no one would know about you. That means even my boss thinks I'm watching over muggles right now. I couldn't let him or anyone else notice that I have been looking into empaths. They would want to know why. Empaths are so rare…It would attract unwanted attention."

"Oh. I didn't realize…"

"Lunch is ready!" Benny shouted from the kitchen, interrupting.

"It's nothing Wizardling. Let's go eat, and after that maybe you can get out of those pajamas and into real clothes for the day." He was pleased to see the faint blush and he stretched easily and strolled out of the room.

XXXxxx

"You should be asleep."

"I napped this afternoon."

"It's three o'clock in the morning. You only napped for a few hours. Why are you still awake?.. You didn't have nightmares did you?"

"No, no. I have two dream-catchers now; I'm hardly worried about bad dreams. I just- this afternoon was a lot to take in. I mean, all that about anchors and bonding, it's so much I don't even know where to start." Green eyes looked up to meet his.

"You can start by getting some rest. You need sleep to finish healing and you won't get that thinking yourself into circles like this. Just relax. We have four full weeks to think about this and we should be getting more information soon. I am not going anywhere." He reached over and gently tucked the other boy in securely. _I am going to make a habit of this if it continues. _

Green eyes peeked up through multi-colored hair as Prince pulled the silver frames off and set them on the night stand. "Tell me a story."

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A/N: Please review! I love it when you ask questions. Some things are meant to be vague others I just don't clarify properly. If you don't ask, I don't know!


	11. Briar

**Disclaimer: not mine**

_A/N: Huge appologies for making this so late between work and exams I have had no time..._

**Chapter 11. Story time**

"_You can start by getting some rest. You need sleep to finish healing and you won't get that thinking yourself into circles like this. Just relax. We have four full weeks to think about this and we should be getting more information soon. I am not going anywhere." He reached over and gently tucked the other boy in securely. _I am going to make a habit of this if it continues.

_Green eyes peeked up through multi-colored hair as Prince pulled the silver frames off and set them on the night stand. "Tell me a story."_

"Tell me a story."

"About what?" Prince tipped his head to the side, thinking.

"Anything. Tell me about you." Harry pleaded.

Prince studied him for a long moment, thinking. "Okay little one, but no interrupting.

"I was born Briar Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. For the first three years of my life I was very sheltered and very spoiled. I was the perfect heir to the Malfoy line: beautiful, intelligent, and completely fascinated with my family history which was told to me in the form of bedtime stories. I am told I was the perfect little gentleman, that I picked up etiquette easily and without formal lessons, and that I was a natural leader when grouped with my peers. My –parents- loved me very much, and wanted the very best for me. When I was four that all changed.

"Voldemort fell, and with him all his loyal followers scrambled for cover. I was too young to understand why my parents were so worried all of the sudden. I remember one night my father came to tuck me in and he made me promise to look after my baby brother, always no matter what. I didn't understand when I promised him, that he was worried about the two of us should they be taken to prison. Family means _everything _to a Malfoy. Family comes before anything else…

"Of course the aurors came eventually. I only know the story; I was asleep when they came. They had a warrant, though only for my father. He went willingly enough, but this witch… She came to my bed and cursed me, right in front of him. She justified cursing a child by saying my father killed her mother. My father was taken away and held until his trial.

"Between the Malfoy name and fortune, and the fact that Auror woman attacked his heir, the wizigmnot gave him a free pass. Father never bribed or threatened anyone, they just knew that even in prison Malfoy's have a long reach. So father went home… and discovered I wasn't there.

"You see the Auror cursed me to be 'light' assuming that to be the perfect revenge on a dark family, to 'corrupt' their heir. My mother was a fanatic. She came from a very dark family and refused to accept her son as a light wizard. She had me checked over by several healers, curse breakers and other professionals, but when they could do nothing she… got rid of me. She couldn't outright kill me, or disown me so she did the next best thing.

"She took me to a dangerous alleyway in muggle London, cast a sleeping spell, and left. She just walked away. She arranged for her sister to accept the blame when Bellatrix was caught out, and so preserved the family name. When my father came home she forced him to sleep for several days, in the hopes that I would be dead before he could do anything to find me.

"I was taken in by a group of thieves. I have no idea why they did. Most street gangs wouldn't risk a young kid new to the streets. There's too little to go around to take in a completely dependent extra. I was somehow found by my father within two weeks. My father took me to a relative. He couldn't take me home without putting my life in jeopardy, so he gave me to his second cousin to raise. He visits me every now and again, irregularly. I know he wants nothing more than to leave my mother, but he will not risk Draco and cannot get a divorce.

"They married under a magical contract, and it can only be broken by the heads of both families. Father is the head of the Malfoy family, but the head of the Black family is unreachable. So they are stuck, at least until Draco is of age or the Black patriarch is found." Prince stared at the blue comforter brooding. After a long while he smoothed out the blanket and wished the wizardling a goodnight.

XXXxxx

Harry watched Prince _no Briar _leave. He had questions, but knew this wasn't the time. He'd never considered Prince would be related to Draco so closely. He thought the other might be a distant cousin or something. _What kind of mother would do that to her son? _His mother had died for him, but Briar's had tried to kill him because of somebody else. _How did he end up working for Benny's dad? Doing illegal muggle work? More importantly, if his mom's so dangerous, why would he come to Hogwarts with me? _He'd felt the attachment Prince had to his father, and the hurt from his mother's actions.

After a time he forced himself to stop thinking and go to sleep.

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_A/N: again, sorry for the delay, and the shortness, but I got this bit out as quickly as I could. Let me know what you think!!_


	12. Emotions

A/n: So I know it's been almost a year, but it's been rough including a new college schedule and the death of my step dad. I am finally pushing past my writers block and getting back to my writing. I haven't abandoned either of my stories and have no plans to ever do so. *Also see poll on my page.*

**Chapter 12. Emotions and emotions.**

Morning came, and with it a flurry of excitement. Benny had attempted to make omelets. Harry stumbled into the kitchen to shouts and chaos. Apparently Kiki had stolen the bacon and Dudley knocked over the bowl of beaten egg trying to catch her. Cut vegetables were everywhere, the cat was on top of the fridge and Benny was nursing scratched fingers. In the middle of it all Prince –_Briar- _stood with tomato in his platinum hair glaring at the mess.

"Oh my!" Harry rubbed at his eyes but the scene didn't change. A sudden pressure built in his chest and he was furious. "What the hell are you doing?" he snapped at Dudley first who was snatching at the cat and yelling. "You come into my kitchen, trash the place, spoil breakfast and attack my cat!? What is wrong with you people?" Just as suddenly as he started yelling he stopped shocked.

"Ree-" Prince began but Harry fled back to his room.

Prince watched as Kiki lept down and followed the teen, tail stuck proudly in the air. He blinked bemused and turned back to the mess and the gaping boys. "Start cleaning this place up, I'll handle this."

He ignored the half-hearted protests and slipped down the hall and into the blue room. Harry had huddled under his blanket. He approached quietly and sat on the bed, gently tugging at the covers.

"I'm sorry." Harry peeked up through his lashes. I shouldn't have…"

"Hush Little One. I don't believe that was entirely your fault, and even if it were you wouldn't be in serious trouble for a bit of yelling. In case you didn't notice, your cousin and Benny yell at each other all the time."

"What?"

"Your cousin and Benny get in these arguments all the time. They yell at each other for a while, the laugh it off later. It is part of-"

"No not that." Harry cut Prince off, knowing the other was being deliberately obtuse. "What did you mean it wasn't all my fault?"

"Harry, little bit, what have we been studying about for the past week?" Prince questioned him gently.

"Empathy" he responded slowly, uncertain.

"Empathy, and just two days ago we talked about anchors remember?"

"Yes, but, I yelled at you. Why would you be mad at yourself?" Harry hated how pitiful his voice sounded and wanted to hide beneath the blanket again. _I can't believe I yelled at Prince!_

XXxx

"Oh wizardling" Prince closed his eyes and focused on reassuring feelings. "Being an empath, feeling your anchor's emotions doesn't mean that the reasons behind the emotion would be the same. You may get caught up in m-someone's emotions, but they can't influence your own thoughts and beliefs really." He watched as Harry cocked his head clearly confused. "In the kitchen, I was very angry at Benny for making a racket, at Dudley for flipping tomato at me, and at Kiki even for stealing the bacon and instigating the whole ordeal. You picked up on my anger, probably most strongly when you came close to me in the kitchen and you were overwhelmed. Because I am an anchor for you the high emotions in the room probably had you reaching towards my emotions for guidance. You became angry because I was angry, but you weren't angry for the reasons I was, so you turned your anger towards reasons you were upset over. Do you understand?"

"You were angry about the noise and the tomato and the bacon. Your anger made me angry, but I didn't care about those things so I was angry for my own reasons?"

"That's it exactly." Prince smiled relieved. _I'm glad he understood it, I nearly confused myself._ "It would have been like that for other anchors you've used in the past. Strong feelings from your anchor would seem almost like your own feelings, but no one can influence your personal thoughts and opinions. At least not because of your empathy."

"Ron."

"What was that?" Prince lifted an eyebrow.

"My friend Ron, I think he was my anchor. I remember getting into fights that I shouldn't have. Normally I'd walk away or talk everyone down so it didn't come to blows. I thought I really needed to work on my temper and not let the Slytherins get under my skin so much, but it wasn't all me." Harry looked as if he'd solved a huge mystery.

"Slytherins?" bemused he watched his wizardling blush.

"Ron _always _loses his temper around the snakes. I don't always get caught up, but I definitely remember times where I felt not myself when around some of the Slytherins, less sensitive and more emotional."

"That would be right. You would be able to tune out emotions from everyone except your anchor, and you would feel your anchor's emotions at extra strength. What makes you think it was Ron and not your other friend, Hermione?"

"Just thinking about when we had fights. Hermione always felt sad when we fought but Ron would get mad. Even if I was fighting with Ron, I stayed close to him and I'd be mad at him too. I thought in first year that maybe it was Ron making me mad at M-certain people, but I was upset at him for different reasons than he always was so I didn't think that could be it."

"Mystery solved then." Prince gently ruffled the multi colored hair. "Feel better Little One?"

"Yes." Harry peeked up shyly. "What was going on anyhow?"

"Benny J decided to make breakfast. Kiki wanted to help." Prince offered a grin.

"You still have tomato in your hair." Harry looked fascinated at the sight.

Prince grimaced not wanting to think about the mess. "I'll go shower. What are you going to do?"

"I think I'll go start breakfast. Or at least start cleaning-"

"No. If the kitchen is a mess still, you leave it to the boys. They made the mess; they can clean all of it without assistance. You need to be resting still, and it is not your responsibility to keep the house neat."

"I just thought, 'cause Kiki…"

"No cleaning. Thank you, but no."

XXXxxx

Two days later Harry brushed the sleep from his eyes and froze. The flat was _buzzing_. Excitement and anticipation seemed to fill the place and the green eyed wizard swayed before he caught himself and pulled on his glasses. Nervous about the cause, but filled with the ambient happiness, he shuffled out of the room twisting the hem of his blue pajama top.

Whispering was coming from the front room and he followed the slight noise until he spotted all three of the other residents hovering over the coffee table. Prince glanced up sharply then grinned at him. Harry blinked and smiled back, shy.

"Oy Ree! What are you doing up! You're supposed to be asleep still!" Benny J shouted suddenly, causing him to jump slightly.

"Easy Benny, do you have to be so loud all the time?" Dudley elbowed his friend as he smiled at his cousin. "Happy Birthday!"

"Happy Birthday Ree!" the other two echoed.

Harry froze, his eyes going wide. _I forgot. I didn't count down last night. No one owled. __**Dudley **__just wished me a Happy Birthday._ "Oh."

After a beat where the three waited for more, Prince gestured towards the kitchen. "I made pancakes and strawberry topping. It's not overly sweet, I promise. Come eat."

Harry followed still shocked as they moved into the kitchen. _No one's ever. I…What? I don't know what to do now…Prince-_Harry reached for the blond wrapping around one arm even as he accepted the plate. _This is okay. I'm okay. Safe here. Happy._

XXxx

Prince glanced down as Harry clung to his left arm. He ruffled the calico hair enjoying the mix of blond red and raven, as the wizardling sorted himself out. When he felt the younger boy relax a bit, he guided him to the table and gently sat him in a chair. Glancing up he spotted Dudley's guilty look and Benny's uncertainty.

"Well eat." He commanded gesturing to the large tray of pancakes and strawberry slices. Pleased when they obeyed, he turned his attention to the birthday boy. "You've never celebrated your birthday have you?"

"I have." Harry matched his quiet tone. "Usually I stay up till midnight and count down. And the Weasleys send me presents. Hermione too."

"I meant with other people. Dudley said you never had a birthday party" _Or received much for presents besides scrap or trash meant as a joke. _"Have you ever had a celebration?"

Harry shook his head in response looking lost.

"Well today is about you okay? If you get overwhelmed or want to be alone that's fine. Today is supposed to be fun for you. If you aren't having fun we can stop." Prince smoothed his hair in a way he knew his wizardling found soothing. "Now enjoy your pancakes."


	13. Birthday

Harry's birthday was a quiet affair. Dudley and Benny both tried to get them out of the house to "celebrate" but after Prince sternly reminded them that those outings bothered Ree they stopped pressuring. Harry enjoyed curling on the couch and watching movies all afternoon with the other boys. For lunch they ordered pizza, a compromise to keep Harry from cooking and from feeling guilty for not cooking. He took a short nap after lunch and woke to laughter.

He stretched out in the bed, wincing as his shoulder twinged and his knee ached. He was still sore in places as his worse injuries healed slowly. He slid out of bed and tugged on the pants he'd kicked off earlier. He shuffled out of the room and followed the laughter to the living room.

Benny had his back to him as the older teen bent over Dudley. Harry could see the side of Dudley's face covered in green and purple paint. Brushes, cups, and other paint tubes littered the living room table. Prince was sitting in his usual chair snickering at the two. Bewildered he slipped further into the room, trying to figure out what was happening. Surely they weren't really…

"Harry!" Benny J suddenly exclaimed making him jump. The older boy was grinning at him, his face painted mostly white with a star over one eye.

"What's going on?" he asked, although it was apparent they were painting each other's faces.

"Sorry we started without you." Dudley looked sheepish as he elbowed Benny J out of his way.

"O-kay, why are we painting our faces?" he knew it wasn't a birthday thing, the only birthday involving face paint he could remember was when Dudley went to a carnival for his birthday when they were six.

"Because it's _fun." _Dudley explained. Harry could tell the other boys were put out by his lack of enthusiasm.

He looked at Prince questioningly. He could feel the positive emotions radiating from the other, it seemed Prince was having fun too. The blond nodded and smiled.

"Go on Ree. You should try it, something simple maybe?" he directed the last part to Benny J.

"I can do simple."

Harry chewed his lip and relished in the happy feelings. He wasn't too sure about this, but he wanted to keep these happy feelings longer. He gave a quick nod then squeaked as a hand gripped him pulling him in close. He'd shuffled all the way over to Prince, who was now holding him. After a moment of anxiety he relaxed into the arms of the blond, letting himself be arranged on the other's lap. Completely comfortable against his anchor, Harry smiled at Dudley and Benny J.

"Well?"

The two huddled together for a moment whispering, then they picked out paints and hurried over. He giggled as the paint ticked his skin and followed instructions as he tilted his head this way and that. At some point he'd given up his glasses to keep them free of paint, and relaxed into the warm comfort the others were giving off.

A mirror showed him the cat face they'd painted on him. A black nose and whiskers, the rest of his face was covered in rough patches of color almost matching his hair. When they were finished Dudley demanded pictures. Uncertain, Harry clung to Prince for the first few. Soon he was being shuffled towards his cousin as Prince took charge of the disposable camera. He relaxed again and laughed as Dudley and Benny J came up with outlandish poses for the three of them.

"Hey, come on Prince, what about you?" Harry demanded impishly as a thought came to him.

"You want me in a picture?" the blond questioned pulling the camera from his face.

"No. Well, yes. What I meant is that you aren't painted."

"Oh no, not me." He shook his head sharply.

Harry pouted a moment and looked from the paints and back.

"Come on, it's his birthday!" Benny J stuck in.

"Yeah, come on, it's only fair." Dudley encouraged.

XXXxxx

The Prince frowned at the two, but he already knew he was going to give in. His wizardling asked for so little. What was a bit of personal humiliation in exchange for one of those little smiles? He found himself nodding and gave a little shrug.

"Oh, why not? For the birthday boy."

Ree blushed and beamed at him and Prince tucked the camera away as the little one set to sorting out the paints. He thought carefully and selected a blue mixing it with white until he had a light color that complemented the blond and grey eyes. He carefully painted a mask around his eyes adding white dots around the edges and small black swirls. The paint brushed on smoothly and he could feel the tingle like laughter in the other's emotions that he believed was ticklish spots. Dudley and Benny J sat back complementing and suggesting further detail as he worked out the detailing. Finally content he sat back and met those grey eyes. His stomach flipped and he found himself blushing. Quickly moving away to set the paints down, he let Dudley hold the mirror so Prince could inspect the damage.

"Not bad, Ree."

Harry beamed at the complement and allowed the others to talk him into another movie. He snuggled down on the couch, content with his birthday. They relaxed in front of the telly. At some point Benny fetched the left over pizza and some popcorn and they had "dinner". Harry relaxed further, curling against Prince. The movie ended and there was a quick flash. Harry jumped slightly and turned his head to see Dudley there with the camera.

"Alright, you got one. Now put it away or point it somewhere else." Prince demanded. The tone was cold, but Harry could feel there was no real anger behind the words.

"It's cake time. We have to take pictures of Harry with the cake." Dudley grinned.

"Cake?" he questioned, feeling overwhelmed by the reminder of the day. "You really got me cake?"

"With candles and ice cream." Benny J answered with his own smile as he hurried in the kitchen. After a moment the teen returned with a chocolate cake, two candles shaped like numbers perched on top and burning cheerfully. "Make a wish."

Harry couldn't think of anything that would make him happier. He was surrounded by happy people who had done all these good things for _him_. He took a breath, taking it all in. Both Dudley and Prince had promised to protect him, to look after him. No one had ever done that before. He wasn't having nightmares. He was safe from Voldemort and his uncle both. It was better than anything he'd ever had before. With a huff he blew out the candles. _I wish for more of this. _

He laughed as Dudley snuck another movie in and they watched another film as they ate cake and ice cream. It was really the best birthday ever.

XXXxxx

_A/N: Thank you thank you, all of my faithful readers. I hope you like the addition. Hopefully more to come, this year has started off looking good. _


	14. Panic

Disclaimer: Don't own this.

**Chapter 14: In which Harry panics **

The Prince was reading through files when it happened. Kiki bolted into the room hissing and jumped on the desk. He frowned at the cat getting to his feet and releasing the gun he'd grabbed at the intrusion. Something was off. Kiki was puffed and upset about something. He was moving towards the door before the memory even registered consciously. _Kiki is trained for panic attacks. _

He bolted into the blue room where his wizardling should be sleeping, but couldn't find the boy. He could feel the anxiety building in himself and tried to push it away. As Harry's anchor he needed to be calm right now. He didn't need to add to the empath's panic. Kiki appeared as he turned to leave the room and darted under the bed. Releasing a breath he knelt down to look.

Sure enough, under the bed was Harry. The boy seemed to be holding his breath, something that concerned him greatly. He pushed the edges of the blankets up out of the way and lay on the ground so he could see.

"Hey, wizardling" his voice steady and low as he could make it. "You alright there?"

Harry didn't respond but he did start breathing, short fast bursts of air. Bright green eyes gleamed at him seeming more vulnerable without the glasses he usually wore. Prince looked away skimming the room before finding the pair on the bedside table.

"I'll be right back little one, I'm going to grab your glasses, okay?" he moved away slowly grabbed the glasses and brought them back. Once again laying on the floor he pushed them out, setting the pair close to Harry. His wizardling flinched back from the hand, and he backed off. "You're alright now. You know me, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm sorry I feel so anxious right now Ree, I'm just worried about you. Okay? There is no danger. Can you hear me?"

Harry watched him, breathing fast and uneven. He made no move to grab the glasses but did seem to be listening.

"You have to tell me what's wrong, little one. I can't help you if I don't know. Kiki came and got me. You know Kiki? That is some cat you have there." As if on cue, the damned cat started purring.

Harry jumped as if startled and looked around wildly. Kiki crawled up beside the boy and settled. After a moment Harry reached out to pet the cat. Pleased at the progress, he waited to see if Harry would collect himself. Instead Harry's breathing remained uneven and green eyes continued to dart around, no longer remaining in eye contact with his own.

"Okay, that's a start. You're okay just relax." He smiled when that caught Ree's attention again. "Just focus on your breathing, can you match mine?" He matched the rapid breaths and began to slow his own breathing, exaggerating the noise of each breath. After a moment it began to work and he found his boy breathing easier. "That's it little one. Just breathe for a moment."

He focused on his own sense of pride and satisfaction in accomplishing this much, hoping those feelings were projecting towards the wizardling. He wasn't sure how well it was working, but Harry did seem to settle a bit.

"Now little one, do you see your glasses? I think you would feel better if you could see. Why don't you try" he suggested. "Just pick them up."

He gently coxed his wizardling into picking up the glasses and in inching his way out from under the bed. It was difficult to resist the urge to just grab and pull Harry out, but he managed. Prince had to back away from the bed before Harry would come the last few inches. He sat with his back against the bookcase facing Harry who was out and pressed firmly against the bed. There was maybe two, three feet between them, and the younger boy was taking every centimeter he could by scrunching himself into a ball. Kiki purred softly in Harry's arms.

"I'm out of things to talk about you know. You want to try talking to me now?" he waited for a response. "I guess not. I'm not angry at you, you know that right? I just want to help." He rolled his shoulders, hating the flinch that simple motion caused and trying to suppress the negative emotions. "Alright, let's try this, how about I read you one of these stories?" He pulled the first book under his fingers, unwilling to turn around and browse the collection. It was one of the romance novels and that made him smile. Taking a slow breath he began to read, his eyes flicking up every now and then to check on Harry who seemed transfixed.

XXXxxx

His voice was hoarse. He ached in a million places and still Harry wasn't talking. He paused between chapters as he noticed the boy's breathing change. Looking up he couldn't stop the smile. Harry had been scotching towards him by millimeters for a while now. His wizardling was curled up asleep a breath away from his foot. One small finger was actually hooked in the leg of his pajama bottoms.

"Oh, little one." He gently laid a hand on the multi colored hair, his smile widening as harry leaned into the touch. "Let's tuck you in." A look at the clock showed he'd been in the room for three hours at least. He was turning into quite the sap. _Any other client and you would have spelled them to sleep and left them on the floor. Big bad Malfoy just spent hours cramping on the floor, and for what? _He brushed calico hair gently and did not answer that question.

XXXxxx

Dudley pushed the cereal around in his bowl. He was worried about his cousin. Prince had been awake and at the table when Dudley had pulled himself out of bed, and the blond was broody. He'd been asked to find his own breakfast and not wake Harry up. Dudley didn't mind finding his own meal, that was easy enough, but something was wrong with Harry and that worried him. He'd thought things were getting better, Harry had seemed better, but something was off.

He frowned at the soggy mess in his bowl and pushed it away. Benny J needed to wake up so he could talk about this. Dudley was sick of being confined to this flat. He was tired of acting like his cousin was about to break. Harry wasn't well, but he didn't understand why that would make him want to stay inside. That was why they'd gotten Prince in the first place. They were fine. _Oh. Now I sound like Harry. _The thought aggravated him. It wasn't fine, but this being locked in wasn't fine either.

It had taken him weeks to convince the Prince that the weight room in the complex was a safe place to visit and only then with some compromises. Somehow the blond had rigged surveillance in the room and only allowed them to visit if it wasn't in use. The pool was still being debated. It was obnoxious but it beat the alternative. He had to keep his cousin safe. _I owe him that much… _With an exaggerated sigh he cleaned out his breakfast dishes and turned to the blond.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong with Harry?"

"No." the answer was simple and matter of fact.

Dudley paused put off by the answer. "You sure?"

"…He had a panic attack, don't know why yet. Leave him be."

"Can I go to the pool then?" Dudley met the assessing gaze and held his ground.

"How about I give you a tattoo instead?" the Prince smirked.

"Really? Cool!" Dudley perked up instantly.

"Let's wait till Benny J get's up. You boys can find a design and I'll see what I can do."

Dudley grinned and bounced. This was going to be awesome.


End file.
